


Paper Doll |BTVS| Book One

by BrunetteMarionette



Series: Hell on the Hellmouth [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Fights, Friendship, Hellmouth (BtVS), Hurt, Love/Hate, Magic, Pain, Psychic Abilities, Saving the World, Sisters, Strong Female Characters, The Scooby Gang (BtVS), Twins, Vampire Slayer(s), Vampires, Yet Another Halloween Fic (BtVS)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-12-16
Packaged: 2019-01-31 07:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 131,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12676761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrunetteMarionette/pseuds/BrunetteMarionette
Summary: "I'm not a paper doll, Can't make me what you want. You just build me up and tear me down"Nikki Summers is known as the bad girl everywhere she went, she has that I don't give a fuck attitude that people envied. Defying the rules she did what she wanted when she wanted. She lived her life with no rules. That is until she moves to Sunnydale to be with her twin sister Buffy now instead of causing trouble, trouble finds her.[Season 2]





	1. Epigraph

**Amber Heard as Nikki Summers**

_"I've never keyed a car, joy rided sure but never keyed"_

 

**Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy Summers**

_"I'm gonna kill them all. That oughta distract 'em"_

__

**Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg**

_"Oh, I don't get wild. Wild on me equals spaz"_

__

**Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris**

_"I wish dating was like slaying. You know, simple, direct, stake to the heart, no muss, no fuss"_

__

**Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase**

_"You know what? I'm going. I'd rather be worm food than look at your pathetic face!"_

__

**Seth Green as Daniel Osbourne**

_"All monkeys are French. You didn't know that?"_

__

**Anthony Head as Rupert Giles  
**

" _To forgive is an act of compassion. It's not done because people deserve it, it's done because they need it."_

__

**Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar  
**

_"Yeah that's the worst part of being hung upside down by a vampire who wants to slit your throat. The stains"_

__

**Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers**

_"You looked like a streetwalker"_

__

  **David Boreanaz as Angel/ Angelus**

_"She made me feel like a human being. That's not the kind of thing you just forgive"_

__

**James Marsters as Spike**

_"You think you can fool me?!You were my sire, man! You were my...Yoda!"_

__

**Juliet Landau as Drusilla**

"Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?"


	2. Bitch Hung Up On Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'm not a paper doll  
> Can't make me what you want  
> You just build me up and tear me down  
> Enough's enough  
> Go, leave me alone  
> Cut me down but I won't fall  
> I'm not a paper doll"  
> ~ Paper Doll - Bea Miller

"Hey Dad," I said walking down the stairs slowly as my dad rushed around the room collecting up his papers with a slice of toast in his mouth "Dad?" I called again as he seemingly ignored me "Dad!" I raised my eyebrow when dad jumped and his pages scattered everywhere.

"Oh Nikki, I didn't see you there," he said sounding far away I nodded and walked over to fridge and pulled out the juice pouring myself a glass "So what are you going to do today?" dad asked me distracted.

I frowned in shock we don't usually do the whole talking thing I've really held a grudge against my dad since him and mom split up "Well I was thinking of heading to the mall with my friends, maybe watch some tv...".

I stopped when I realized he wasn't even listening to me "Also I was thinking of joyriding in Mrs. Petersons car, get a tattoo and then getting pregnant" Dad looked up smiling "That sounds great kiddo"

I growled picking up an apple and stomping off upstairs throwing myself on my bed, I missed my mom and Buffy.

I looked over to where her side of the room was and sighed I had to remember it was my choice to stay here I was doing this for Buffy.

When my mom and dad split dad had got the court judge to agree to each parent got one child, Mom fought it arguing that splitting up twins was immoral but she lost the battle and I agreed to live with my dad so Buffy didn't have to, I knew she needed to be with mom more.

Throwing away the core of my apple I walked over to my walk-in closet which I used to share with Buffy that was probably the only good thing that came out of this split, I got my own space.

I pulled out some pants and a shirt before dropping one of my boots "Damn it" crouching down on to floor I noticed something in the back of the closet "What the hell?".

It was a big cross and a wooden stake, laughing I put them in my bag "Geez Buff some hobby you had" I sighed wondering what my twin sister was doing right now.

* * *

Buffy jumps into a back somersault and stands ready to fight, the vampire in front of her growls roughly at her signaling he was ready to rumble with The Slayer.

Buffy pulls out a stake from under her jacket and holds the point out by her hips so the vampire can see only she was going to win this fight.

The vampire frowns when he sees the wooden stake held by the Slayers side as he looked back up to her face and Buffy gave the vamp a mocking smile, growling the vampire launches himself at the young slayer.

Anticipating his move Buffy hits him with an outward crescent kick before hitting him with a front snap kick stunning him giving Buffy time to plunge the stake into his heart, the vampire falls backward and bursts into ashes just as he hits the ground "Three in one night. Giles would be proud" Buffy muttered to herself looking up at the sky.

* * *

 

Walking back from the mall it was now getting late and I was starting to feel a bit unwell but she couldn't put my finger on what was wrong with me.

Opening the door and putting my bags on the stairs I walked into the lounge "Nikki is that you?" I looked up to see dad looking at me quizzically "You ok princess" I shook my head confused.

"I'm not feeling so great dad" I muttered pathetically, Dad frowned before putting his hand on my forehead "Well you don't feel warm, come on I made some dinner that might help," dad said leading me to the dinner table.

I looked at the food in front of me and picked at it I didn't feel sick I felt fuzzy and confused like something bad was about to happen. "So how was your day joy riding and getting pregnant".

I shot up with wide eyes looking at my dad in shock as he ate his food nonchalantly "Um I didn't get pregnant" Dad looked at me confused "Did you joy ride in Mrs. Petersons car?" he asked seriously pointing his fork at me "Not today" I told him with a mischievous smirk.

Dad put down his fork and sighed "Nicola look..." We both looked into the hallway when the phone started ringing "I'll get it" I told him walking away quickly before any authoritative talk was given.

"Hello" I answered "Nikki?" a voice answered me back "Buffy?" the voice sighed heavily "Yeah it's me" I frowned something was off I could feel it "What's wrong, are you ok?" the voice sighed and I'm sure I heard a little sob too.

"I'm great, really great, I...I just wanted you to know that I love you ok? Always" I froze up hearing her say that Buffy was always the emotional twin but still this was weird.

"Buffy are you sure you're ok because I can come to you if you're in trouble" I heard Buffy laugh on the other end and smile "I'm ok I just wanted you to know that".

I nodded and huffed "Have you and mom been watching those stupid sad tv shows again they always upset you" I could almost feel my sister smiling down the end of the phone.

"Can..can you say it back please I don't hear it too often and right now I need it" I smiled sadly knowing it was true "I love you Buffy Anne Summers, as my twin and big sister. Always".

I pulled the phone away from my ear "Bitch hung up on me" I muttered in disbelief, putting the phone back I felt worse then I did before.

"Who was that sweetheart" dad asked shoving green beans in his mouth "huh? Oh, it was just Buffy" I answered quietly my mind still stuck on my bad feeling "You know what dad I'm gonna go to bed now," I said getting up and walking back into the hallway and grabbing my bags.

"If you're still as bad tomorrow I'm calling Dr. Roberts to come see you" I heard dad shout to me from the dinner table, getting into my pajamas I crawled into my bed and pulled my sheets over my head and closed my eyes hoping for the bad feeling to stop.

* * *

 

_Nikki walked around a dark cemetery confused she wondered how she got here "Hello?" I froze hearing leaves crunching behind me "Ok this isn't funny, show yourself" I demanded sounding more confident then I felt._

_A woman with beautiful black skin stepped out from the bushes, she wore nothing but white face paint and what looked to be a dress made from loincloths "I am Sineya" She told me looking very proud of herself._

_"Good for you" I muttered turning to walk away before being tackled and thrown to the ground and 'Sineya' sat on top of me "In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer" Sineya told me darkly._

_I pushed her off me and she started to laugh maniacally "You have the strength but not the skill just yet" Sineya looked down looking angry "They have failed you and for that, I will give you special gifts to help"._

_I looked at her shocked at the change of her mood "Who failed me, what are you talking about?" Sineya just smiled softly at me "You and I are very alike, we are alone"_

I awoke jumping up my breath faster than it has been before, looking at my clock and frowned as it flashed at me I groaned before realizing I didn't feel ill or bad any more in fact I felt..stronger, sighing I shut my eyes and lay down hoping 'Sineya' wouldn't be plaguing my dreams again that woman was freaky.


	3. Bad Dreams

"Buffy!" jumping up I felt cold sweat stuck to my skin and my chest heaving like I had run a marathon, that nightmare was worse then the last I have never dreamt about Buffy dying, demons or vampires before this was strangely terrifying. I jumped again hearing a knock at my bedroom door.

"Sweetheart?" I gave dad a smile seeing him creep into my room "Morning dad" he smiled sitting at the end of my bed "You ok now?" thinking about the nightmares I had endured in the night I was definitely not 'better' but seeing the worried look on my dad's face I nodded smiling falsely "I'm great".

Dad grinned standing and walked over to my door "Good, now I've got to go to work. I'll be home late tonight" I nodded and pulled myself out of bed to get showered and dressed ready to meet my friends at the mall again.

After showering and getting dressed I picked up my bag and made my way downstairs and opened the pantry door to get some pop tarts and screaming when I shut the door bending the handle with little strength must be faulty.

I gently opened the next cupboard to get a glass for my juice only for it to shatter in my hand when I gripped it too tight "Ouch!" sighing I grabbed a dishcloth and wrapped it around my hand.

Groaning I threw my head back in annoyance when the phone started to ring, picking "Yes!" I growled into it "Uh Nikki? It's me Buffy" I closed my eyes in relief hearing her voice "Buffy are you ok? Nothing bad happen?" I asked quickly but trying to keep my cool "I'm uh fine... why?" I frowned as Buffy started to stutter down the phone.

"Oh, nothing just bad dreams that's all" I heard Buffy laugh at me softly "It's not funny Buff! This dude was like super white with bright red eyes it was freaky" I told her frowning whilst trying to pick out the glass from my hand.

"And now..." I stopped wondering if I should tell her about the door handle and glass "never mind... Buff you still there?" Buffy never did have a great attention span on the phone we both prefer talking face to face "Uh yeah I gotta go" she stuttered.

Looking down at the phone in my hand I huffed "Bitch hung up on me.. again!" shaking my head I put the phone down and found a bandage to wrap my hand in and the broom to sweep up all the glass "Great start to the day"

* * *

 

Buffy sat shocked, the phone still in her hand her twin sister had just dreamt about her death unknowingly and believed it was a nightmare "Buffy are you ok?" Buffy's head shot up seeing her mom looking at her strangely.

"Uh...Yeah just catching up with Nikki" her mom nodded smiling "Well?" Buffy looked up at her mom confused "Huh?" Her mom smiled "How is my other daughter?"

Buffy just nodded still shocked at what her younger sister had just told her"She's great, Uh mom I've gotta go Willow needs a study buddy and I forgot that study buddy is uh me so.." Buffy grabbed her coat and ran out of the house leaving her mom confused.

Picking up Willow and Xander on the way Giles's house Buffy was very quiet thinking about what's going on. "So why are going to Giles house on a Sunday?" Xander asked Buffy wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"Yeah, are we hunting big nasties again?" Willow asked excitedly, Buffy shook her head slowly as passed they fountain outside Giles's house "I'm not sure" Xander and Willow frowned at each other before following their blonde friend again.

Knocking on Giles's door the gang wait for the older British man to answer "Yes? Oh, Buffy, I wasn't uh expecting you. Come in" Buffy nodded at Giles before walking in and turning when Giles shut the door.

"We have a problem, my sister dreamt about me dying," Buffy told them seriously hands on her hips "Buff I dream about my family dying all the time, she's probably just stressed," Willow said trying to comfort her best friend

"Wait a minute?" everyone looked at Xander "You have a sister?" Buffy nodded realizing she never told them about Nikki "Yeah a twin, Nikki" Buffy smiled thinking about her sister "Is she hot?" Buffy rolled her eyes at Xander.

Buffy turned to look at Giles "I mean she knew exactly what the master looked like. She said white skin and red eyes, she saw it, Giles" Giles took off his glasses and wiped them on a handkerchief he kept in his pocket "Well that is uh rather strange; she's your twin you say?"

Buffy nodded as Giles rummaged around with his books "Yeah 7 minutes younger and fraternal but still similar" Buffy smiled "Well there have been known cases of um twin sisters having a psychic connection, Maybe in your time of need you accidentally called out to your sister" Buffy lowered her eyes to the ground.

"Hmm, maybe I...I just think it's more than that Giles" Buffy whispered out loud trying to make sense of the situation, Giles looked at the young Slayer sympathetically "Until something else happens there is nothing I can do" Buffy sighed "I thought so"

* * *

 

"Hey Nikki" looking up I see my group of friends waving at me there were 4 of us in total. There was Eva who was a tall platinum blonde and hit on anything that walked, Becca was short, curvy and had a sassy attitude. Sasha who was a bit of an airhead but drank like a sailor and finally there was me a sarcastic bitch with a bad attitude.

"Sup ladies, what are we doing today?" I asked sitting down next to Becca who was filing her nails.

"Shall we hit the mall?" I look over Eva who was smirking back at me.

"Sounds awesome" Standing I picked up my bag and threw it over my shoulder "but wouldn't that hurt?" Sasha asked pouting.

Laughing I shook my head at Sasha as the other 2 laughed "Not really hitting it Sash she means..." I looked over to Becca and Eva who were rolling their eyes "Never mind come on"

Walking into the mall we looked around there were loads of people here today "let's go" I looked at Becca who was nodding over to hot topic.

Walking over to hot topic the shop was pretty full, we all went our separate ways but stayed close enough to see each other.

Opening my bad I started putting in rings, leather bracelets and makeup before looking up to see an assistant looking over in my direction smirking I walked out of the shop.

Looking around I noticed that the tattoo and piercing parlor was open "Hey" I turned my head to see Eva putting in a pair of earrings.

"Hey, where's Becca and Sasha?" I asked looking around for the girls to see what they had got.

Eva laughed and nodded her head in front of her "Down at the food court, Becca hasn't eaten in like 5 minutes"

I frowned and pushed her gently "Don't be mean, Becca is not fat she's just curvy" Eva rolled her eyes at me and looked at the parlor in front of us "So what are you doing?"

"Getting pierced. Come on" I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the shop with me and smiling at the smell of the fresh ink.

"Let me handle this" I nodded as Eva walked up to the large tattooed guy and started twirling her hair, the tattoo guy started walking over to me "So what do you want done?"

I pulled up my shirt a little "Navel" the tattoo guy looked at me and Eva suspiciously "She's 18. Come on I know you're a cool guy" the guy sighed probably knowing we were actually underage but motioned to the table "Lay down"

Lying down on the table I pulled up my shirt and closed my eyes feeling the metal forceps pinching my skin "Ready" Nodding I sighed my dad is going to kill me if he finds out..

* * *

"Hey Buffy" Buffy's head shot up as her mom knocked on her bedroom door and opened it slowly "You all packed sweetheart?" Buffy nodded as she looked her packed bags ready to stay with her dad and sister for the summer holiday "Yeah all done"

Buffy watched as her mom sat on her bed "What's up mom?" Buffy watched her mom smiled and shook her head "Nothing just thinking about her" Buffy looked down guiltily she felt bad that Nikki was separated from her and their mom "Me too I can't wait to see her" I just hope she's ok... 


	4. When A Vampire Attacks!

Kicking an empty can I sighed I felt so different but at the same time very lost, thinking about the last couple of days I can't help but feel something was going to happen. Suddenly I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my stomach dropped it was like I was sensing something bad.

Turning I looked behind me I couldn't see anything except for the light from the street lamps above me, it felt eerily the same as the dream I had about Sineya. "Hello?" I called out watching all around me, shrugging my shoulders I continued walking through the park.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" a voice drawled behind me, jumping I whirled around to see a man with yellow eyes and a weird looking face. Breathing heavily, I started to back away slowly when the man rushed at me and knocked me off my feet causing my bag to spill over. The man started hitting and kicking me and there was nothing I could do to stop him, I felt as my nose started to bleed and my skin was bruising.

As I lay on the floor dazed I could hear the man laughing about me, looking to my left I saw the cross and wooden stake that I had found that Buffy had left behind. Grabbing the stake, I jumped up and held it in front of me as protection.

The man looked at me in distaste and then looked down at the stake in my hand and threw his head back laughing "Leave now and I won't hurt you" I said trying to sound strong well I that was until I saw he had two big fangs in his mouth.

Gasping I shivered when the man licked his fangs "Your blood is going to taste so sweet little girl" my eyes widened when I realized that this wasn't a man he was a vampire and I was about to be his next meal.

The vampire growled as he lunged at me causing me to scream and hold the stake up higher in defense. As we both fell to the floor I heard the vamp grunt in pain, looking down I saw the stake was lodged in his chest and he suddenly turned to dust.

Lying on my back I sobbed and clutched the stake to my chest in relief what the hell had just happened? I thought as I picked up all my stuff and put it back into my bag. Looking around paranoid I half ran home holding my hurt ribs.

Bursting through the front door I landed in a heap "Nikki?" trying to pull myself together I saw my dad looking at me "Oh my god" he knelt by me and looked me over "Who did this to you?".

Putting my head into my dad's shoulder I cried "A man he had a weird face and pointy teeth" I stopped myself as soon as I realized what I was saying my dad could never know "Come one we've got to get you to the hospital" shaking my head I sobbed.

Pushing my way out of his arms I heard the phone ring and my dad sigh running up the stairs to my room I looked in the mirror and grimaced as I saw my reflection I looked awful, pulling off my clothes I put them in a bag and put on a new pair.

Getting I groaned as I moved my ribs knowing I would need to go to get them checked out I walked out of my room ready to face my dad and get this over with.

"Yes Joyce I'm just about to take her to the hospital now I just don't want it to scare her, yes she said it was a man with a weird face and pointy teeth but that could be anyone around here. Ok tell Buffy we'll see her tomorrow".

Closing my eyes tight I remembered that Buffy was coming over tomorrow for the summer that should be 'exciting'

* * *

 

Buffy smiled as shut the door and walked in her house she had been worried about Nikki all day but Xander and Willow talked some sense into her, she was just getting herself worked up again nothing bad is going to happen to her little sister.

"I will do hank, ok bye" Buffy frowned when she heard her mom sobbing on the phone to her dad, taking off her coat she threw it and her handbag on the armchair.

"Mom?" Joyce spun around and put a hand on her heart "Buffy I didn't hear you come in" Buffy nodded "Clearly"

Joyce hiccuped as she wiped her eyes with a tissue "Buffy sit down" Buffy did as she was told and her heart began to race "What's wrong" Buffy whispered "Is dad ok? And Nikki?".

Joyce hiccuped again "It's Nikki" she whispered, Buffy's stomach dropped and she stood up and paced, she knew something bad was going to happen to Nikki and she let Xander, Willow and Giles tell her different.

"What happened is she ok? Is she...dead?" Buffy couldn't bring herself to think of her little sister dying especially if she wasn't there to protect her but that's what she was supposed to be now a protector, what if she couldn't protect the one thing she loved the most.

"She's not dead Buffy she was attacked when she was walking home" Buffy's head shot up when she heard that her sister was alive "Attacked? What do you mean attacked?".

Joyce grabbed Buffy's hand and sat on the couch with her "She was badly beaten up; your father is taking her to the hospital now"

Buffy shook she felt useless her sister was hurting and there was not a damn thing she could do about it "Did they find who did it?" she whispered hoping the ass who put her sister in the hospital was going to pay for it.

Joyce shook her head "No but Nikki saw who did it, she said he had a weird face and big pointy teeth" Buffy froze she knew exactly what had attacked her sister "but like your father said it could be anyone" Joyce said patting Buffy's hand.

Standing up Buffy ran up to her room and slammed the door shut and paced in her room thinking about Nikki and how she had gotten away, Buffy didn't know that answer but she was glad she still had her sister.


	5. Hospital Bound

Groaning I rubbed my hand over my face before pulling it away quickly and hissed when I touched my eye. Opening my eyes carefully I looked at the plastic tube that connected to my arm and jumped up confused which was a bad idea when the needle on the I.V pulled on my skin.

Clutching my ribs, I cried out looking around I remember that dad had brought me to the hospital and left me here because I had to stay overnight. "Nikki?" I turned my head when I heard a knock on the door and half smiled when I saw Buffy.

"Hey" she whispered as she came over to me with a sad smile on her face, she took hold of my hand as she sat down on the edge of the bed "What?" I asked her suspiciously when she just kept looking at me with a sad face.

Shaking her head, she just shrugged "I just should have been there for you" sitting up shakily I frowned "why?" Buffy just stared at our entwined hands angrily "because it's my job..." she said before looking up at me "...You know I'm the older twin" she rushed out when I raised a bruised eyebrow at her.

"You can't protect me forever Buff" Buffy looked at me and nodded but still looked trouble "Yeah I know and that's why I'm teaching you how to fight and defend yourself when you're feeling better," she told me with a determined look on her face.

"Fight? Since when do you know how to fight?" I asked with a small laugh when Buffy lived here she had never been in a fight. "Well, Giles taught me..." Buffy said before looking up at me shocked "Uh whose Giles" I said with a smirk thinking that Buffy had found herself a boyfriend in Sunnydale.

"He's the uh... school librarian" looking at my sister with a raised eyebrow I was confused "The librarian?" looking at my sister I realised she had changed a lot, she used to be such a valley girl and now she's hanging around with librarians learning how to fight "Party" I said with a smile.

Buffy sounded relieved when I didn't ask for more details on that "So Buff how's Sunnydale? Have you made any cool friends?" Buffy suddenly had a big smile on her face which made me realize just how much I had missed my twin sister.

Laughing she told me all about her first day with Cordelia and how she met her best friends Willow and Xander "Good morning Miss Summers" A nurse said coming into the room making me and Buffy both say hello before looking at each other and laugh "I think she means me" I said to buffy laughing.

Buffy smiled and moved out of the way so the nurse could take my blood pressure and assess me "So Dr. Fields said if you're feeling up to it you could go home today" smiling I nodded happily as the aging nurse "Ok let me go sign your release forms and you can go, do you have a parent or guardian to come collect you?"

Buffy stood up quickly "I'll go call dad whilst you get ready" nodding at Buffy I waited until everyone left the room before I stood to get changed. Walking up to the small mirror on the wall in the bathroom I sighed seeing my battered face but frowned when I realized it looked a lot better than it did a couple of hours ago.

Shrugging I combed my hair through with my fingers "Must be a fast healer" I muttered to myself as I sat on the bed waiting for Buffy to get back I could just couldn't wait to get home and now I didn't want to wait until it was dark.

"Hey" I jumped up seeing Buffy looking at me from the door "You ok?" she asked looking at me concerned. I opened my mouth to tell her about what I saw but I just couldn't I doubt she would believe me.

"I'm fine," I told her smiling I'm glad she doesn't read minds she would think I was nuts "Ohh wait I forgot" I smiled as Buffy started to rummage around in her bag before pulling out a small box and handing it to me.

Opening the box, I gasped seeing a pure silver necklace with a cross on it, looking up to Buffy I noticed she had one too "Not that I'm not grateful but why?" Buffy took the cross from my hand and carefully put it around my neck "Well they say it'll protect you from big nasties" she said laughing but I couldn't help but feel she was a little serious too.

"Thanks, Buffy" I smiled and played with the cross "Come one Dad will be here any minute" letting my sister pull me up to her we both walked out of the hospital room. "You know I was serious about the fighting right?" Laughing I nodded as she half carried me from the hospital.

Looking at Buffy I still couldn't help but think about how much she had changed, she just wasn't my valley girl sister now she was definitely a lot stronger in herself now, no more mousey blonde and that kind of made me jealous I always acted strong but last night made me realize I wasn't.

Thinking about last night I realized that I wouldn't be here now if I hadn't have found that wooden stake of Buffy's which made me wonder why she had such a big wooden stake in the first place and did she know what it did? Probably not... or else she would have to tell me... right?


	6. Playing With Fire

Huffing I sat on the floor drinking from my water bottle "Come on Nikki time for more" Buffy called from the other side of the garage picking up some punching pads, Buffy was definitely being serious about teaching me how to fight.

She said I needed to know this stuff, Buffy had been different this summer she wasn't the same, she hardly talked and it seemed like she was always looking out for something. Honestly, she was never around and I always found her bed empty at night.

"So what's you being all sneaky Buffy lately?"I asked my older sister nonchalantly as I continued to kick and punch the pads, Buffy looked up at me shocked "I haven't been sneaky" she muttered taking my punches in her stride flinching only a little.

Laughing sarcastically I stopped punching "Seriously?" Buffy looked up at me like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders "You wouldn't understand" she muttered pulling off the pads and walked away.

I felt my anger rising we used to tell each other everything "Then help me understand Buffy!" Buffy ignored me in favor of drinking from her water bottle "because it honestly feels like I haven't seen you this whole summer"

Buffy stood and walked to the door "Sorry" she muttered walking through it "Urghh" I screamed throwing my hands up and gasping when things suddenly flew across the room on their own. Pulling my hands down to myself.

"Did I just?..." breathing heavily I realized I had just made things move without touching them "What is wrong with me?" I whispered looking at my hands, keeping my arms by my side I ran up to my bedroom where Buffy was sat on the spare bed.

"What's wrong?" she asked seeing the worried look on my face "Nothing" I shouted quickly and not very believable "Uh huh, now whose being secretive" Buffy muttered looking at me with a raised eyebrow making me mad again.

"Still you" I spat upset until I saw her teddy Mr. Gordo raise off her bed on its own "Gotta go!" I told her running into the bathroom, holding either side of the sink I looked at myself in the mirror _what the hell was going on?_

I sat on the floor next to the bath and cried on to my hands feeling very alone I couldn't tell Buffy about the vampires or what I had just done and my sister was keeping secrets from me, when did my life make such a bad turn?

* * *

 

It had been 3 weeks since Buffy had gone home she had called to tell me she was sorry for being so distant but she thinks I'll understand someday, again with the cryptic. I was currently being chased by some vamps, this has been a nightly occurrence since Buffy going back home.

Seeing my school I mentally cringed knowing my plan wasn't going to go down very well, running through the doors which were thankfully unlocked I lead the vamps to the science department where I turned on all the gas.

"Where are you bitch?" I rolled my eyes the bad guy routine is strong with these vamps it's always 'bitch' looking around the table I was hiding in I watched as the vamps stalked into the room looking for me.

Pulling out my favorite zippo lighter I kissed it "Sorry baby" I muttered to it before crawling toward the door as the vamps pulled the classroom apart, Standing I lit the zippo "Well this has been fun but..." the vamps all swung round to see me standing by the door.

"If you play with fire, you're gonna get burned" throwing the light I dived out of the door and kicked it shut as I heard the vampires screaming. Hearing the fire alarm blare and the sprinklers come on I stood and began to run down the hallways.

I felt someone grab my arm making me scream I turned to look at my principal, Principal Skinner, "Summers!" he shouted pulling me outside as the fire truck pulls up "It wasn't me" I told him with a grimace "First your sister burns down my gym and now you?"

"But you don't understand.." I tried to explain before I saw more red and blue flashing lights "You and your sister have been nothing but trouble at this school and it is going to stop now" Principal Skinner growls as he hands me off to an officer who sits me in a squad car until they stop the fire.

The fire is stopped pretty quick and the police officer took me back out of the car and I froze seeing my dad, principal Skinner and a fireman all standing together looking very serious "Officer can't I stay in the car" I muttered knowing I was about to be in a world of trouble.

"Sir we stopped the fire easily, the lab's steel door seemed to contain the fire to just that room so you can still open the school tomorrow" I heard the fireman tell Principal Skinner as we walked closer "I knew that" I muttered making all the men look at me sternly.

"Nicola! What were you thinking?" Dad growled at me as I looked at the ground like a puppy being reprimanded "You wouldn't understand" I muttered echoing my older twins words. Dad sighed and looked at Principal Skinner who was glaring at me.

"So what's her punishment?" Dad asked him seriously "I'm sorry Mr. Summers but like your older daughter, I'm going to have to expel Nicola" my head shot up in shock "What you can't, I was just... Dad help?" I stuttered they wouldn't understand if I told them.

"Nicola go wait in the car" I looked at my dad shocked before walking away slowly "I'm going to have to put this on her permanent record, so you'll have trouble finding a school for her now" I heard Skinner tell my dad, I sighed knowing there was nothing I could do about any of this.

Getting in the car I watched as my dad shook hands with Skinner before walking towards me and getting into the car "Dad I..." dad put his hand up stopping me before turning on the car and driving, the car ride was quiet neither of us tried talking again.

Pulling up onto the drive dad got out of the car and slammed the door, I felt a tear fall down my face before I followed him. Dad stood pacing in the hall before turning to me as I stood by the front door "How stupid..." he started before stopping himself "Why Nicola? First Buffy and now you?" he asked rubbing a hand over his face.

I opened my mouth before shutting it there was nothing I could say that would make this better "You know how hard it will be for me to find a school that will take you with this on your record?" he told me before turning and picking up the phone.

"Go upstairs I'll call you back down after" I looked at my dad upset "But dad" I tried "Now Nicola!" I jumped as he raised his voice before running up the stairs and letting out the tears I had been fighting, kicking my bag across the room I sobbed "This sucks"

Feeling my anger and sadness rises I watch as things start to float in the bedroom and sighed trying to get my emotions together knowing this is what triggers this 'thing' from happening. Closing my eyes I tried to think of happy thought which lately was pretty difficult.

"Nicola!" I jumped hearing my dad shout up the stairs causing all the floating things to drop "Aw damn" I sighed seeing everything scattered across the floor before getting up and slowly walking down the stairs and saw my dad sitting on the couch with his head in his hands.

"I've just spoken to your mom and she's agreed to take you for a while" I stood in the doorway speechless, feeling tears roll down my face I wiped them away "You don't love me anymore dad?" My dad looked up at me shocked and quickly pulled me into a hug.

"I will always love you but right now I just don't know how to deal with this" he sighed laying his head on top if mine "you need your mother right now" he added in a whisper, I nodded as he pulled back "Go upstairs and pack. Tomorrow you'll be going to Sunnydale and you'll be keeping yourself out of trouble"

 


	7. Welcome To Sunnydale

Looking out of the window I grimaced seeing us pass the 'Welcome To Sunnydale' sign it looked so cheery especially the little sun someone had painted on the sign and if anything annoyed me the most it was super cheery people.

"Enjoy your stay" I read out loud sarcastically but really I guess I was just nervous to see mom and meet all of Buffy's new friends If I meet Cordelia I'm going to punch her straight in the larynx I thought smiling to myself darkly.

"What's so funny?" Dad asked as we turned down another street "I was laughing out loud?" I asked him shock, he nodded and looked at me confused "Oh it was nothing just uh... allergies" Dad looked at me unconvinced "Allergies, Nicola you are allergic to animals and we don't have any pets"

Mock laughing I just waved it off "Right this is it" Dad announced making my stomach drop I looked up to the house and smiled it was nice it looked about the same size as my house. Getting out of the car I grabbed my bag and suitcase from the back.

Dad put a hand on my shoulder "This isn't permanent remember" he told me pulling me into a big hug, hearing the door open I pulled back and smiled seeing my mom "Mom!" I shouted dropping my bags and running to her.

Tackling my mom into a hug I smiled widely "Oh god baby I missed you" she whispered into my hair as she squeezed me tighter before pulling away and giving me a stern look "but that does not mean you're off the hook".

Nodding I walk back over to dad with mom arm around my shoulder "Hi Hank" mom said civilly smiling at my dad "Joyce, you look good" dad said charmingly to my mom who just smiled and laughed "Thanks"

I picked up my bags and quickly hugged my dad again "Be good kiddo" nodding I smiled as he kissed my head, Me and mom stood waving goodbye to my dad as he drove off. "Come on you I think we need to talk" nodding defeated I followed my mom inside the house.

Leaving my bags by the floor I looked up when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs "Nikki" I smiled seeing Buffy running down the stairs with a red headed girl, laughing I was soon pulled into a tight hug by my twin.

"Are you ok?" she asked looking at me very seriously I nodded but soon got freaked out when Buffy continued to look at me "I'm fine Buff" she nodded before turning to smile at the red head "Oh this is Willow, Will this is Nikki my twin" Buffy said when she realized we didn't know each other.

"Hey" I said politely when Willow smiled at me shyly before putting her hands back in the pockets of her dungarees "Nikki?" Mom called before appearing around the doorway "Oh Willow sweetie are you leaving?" Mom asked Willow kindly.

"Yes Mrs Summers, I..I have to get ready for Parent Teacher night" Willow told my mom stuttering a bit before leaving "Nikki" mom called before walking into the living room where Buffy and I followed "So?" Mom prompted.

I looked up at her like a deer in the headlights " Uhh... I'm sorry?" I said looking at Buffy for help "Why did you do it?" Mom asked looking at me "Was it for attention" I shook my head "There was...It was....Uh..." I looked up to see my mom and Buffy staring at and sighed "It was an accident I was... smoking" I muttered it was better for me to get into trouble then tell the truth I guess.

"Smoking...You've been smoking?" mom asked rhetorically and paced with her hand on her head "I said I was sorry" I told her pathetically playing with my gloves that I wore all the time so I didn't accidentally hurt people.

"Come on" Buffy whispered pulling me up "Don't forget we have Parent Teacher night Buffy you are in just as much trouble as your sister" I looked at Buffy who just rolled her eyes "What did you do?" I asked as I picked up my bag "Just the usual cutting class and stuff" she muttering as she led me to what I guessed was going to be my room.

Buffy opened the door and let me through "My room is next door" she told me putting my bag on the floor and motioned me to follow her. Walking into Buffy's room I smiled it reminded me of our old room "So you burned down the science lab" she asked sitting on her bed.

I nodded and looked at the pictures on her wall "If I ask you a question will you tell me the truth?" I looked at Buffy who was staring at me again, I nodded "Sure I guess" I replied continuing to walk around and familiarizing myself with Buffy's room.

"I mean it Nikki complete truth" Buffy said behind me still sitting on her bed, nodding my head again I pulled open a draw my eyes widened seeing holy water, stakes and crosses "Did you burn down the science lab because of... Vampires".

Dropping the necklace I was looking at I froze "That's what attacked you and put you in the hospital wasn't it, A vampire" turning I looked at my sister and I slowly nodded, Buffy stood and threw herself at me "I knew it" she whispered with tears in her eyes.

"How did?....Is that why you burnt down the gym?" I asked as she held me tightly in her arms being all big sister on me, she nodded and pulled away "Yeah" we stood in silence not knowing what to say to each other.

"So do other people know about vampires?" Buffy shook her head and held onto her cross chain "No that's what I do and you now I guess, we keep people safe from vamps" Buffy pulled on her coat and shoes "We should go see Giles he'll know more" Buffy said to me as I leaned against her desk.

"Giles the librarian?" I asked her confused, Buffy looked up at me with a sorry face "uh well Giles is more than just a librarian he's my watcher" I raised my eyebrow "A what?" Buffy sighed and ran hand through her hair "Come on" she said pulling me out the door.

* * *

 

Walking into Buffy's school I looked around to see banner's up about the parent teacher night "Why do I get the feeling mom is not going to enjoy seeing your teachers" I asked my sister jokingly as she pushed open the doors to the school library.

"Ohh uhh Buffy nice to see you again and uh?" I smiled seeing a very British man looking at me and my sister confused "Giles my sister Nikki, Nikki this is Giles the librarian/watcher" Giles looked at Buffy shocked when she said watcher "Oh don't worry Giles she knows" Buffy pulled herself to sit on the table "In fact she kicks some major vamp butt too".

Giles looks at me in shock and takes off his glasses and cleans them with a cloth in his pocket "Another slayer? How is that possible when uh.. when were you called?" he said putting the glasses back on his face just as Willow and a boy our age walked in the room.

"Called?" I asked "Uh, sir, one morning I was asleep dreaming of my sister's death and the next I was breaking apart doors with my bare hands" I told Giles as bluntly as I could "Oh right and your watcher is?"

I looked at Giles confused "I don't have a watcher" I said to him as his face scrunches up in disarray "no.. no every Slayer is assigned a watcher to help and prepare you for your duty" I shrugged "This gig is all new to me, I haven't got anyone helping me"

"What's going on?" Willow said as she and the boy walked up to us "Oh hey Nikki" Willow said waving a little at me "Hold on Nikki as in Buff's twin Nikki?" the boy asked, when everyone nodded he smoothed his hair and walked up to me "Xander Harris" he said shaking my hand and winking.

"I thought you said he was awkward when he first meet you?" I asked Buffy as Xander turned bright red "Thanks Buff" he muttered walking to the table behind us "Giles thinks Nikki is a Slayer" Buffy told Willow as we all sat down at the table.

"Wow 2 Slayers is that possible" Willow says in awe sitting next to Xander aww she likes him I thought smiling at her. "Not that I know of. The new slayer is only called after the previous slayer has died-" Giles stopped in his sentence before looking at my sister "Good lord . . . You were dead, Buffy" he said in realization.

"Wait you died!" I shouted at her making her look up at me in shock "A little" Giles sighed and leaned against the table "Clearly, it doesn't matter how long you were gone. You were physically dead, causing the activation of the next slayer" I sat there silently trying to think everything over.

"So my dream was real?" I asked her softly as she nodded and rubbed her arms "I'm sorry" I told her putting my hand on hers and squeezed a little "Wait what do mean you mean by Nikki is 'The Slayer'" Buffy asked Giles using quoting finger on the words The Slayer.

"Well in every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer" My ears perked up that is exactly what Sineya told me, Giles saw my face "Nikki?"

"I had a dream the night of my 'Activation' I was visited by a Slayer called Sineya and those words are exactly what she told me" Giles eyes widened when I told him about Sineya before he ran off into his back room.

"Was it something I said?" I asked the gang but they shook their heads saying it was normal, Giles came running out of the back room book in hand "Is this her?" I looked at the old page and shivered remembering her exactly "yep that's her in all badassness".

"Good lord, this Nikki is the first slayer there ever was and to see her in a dream is something very special" Giles told me holding the book for the gang to see "Did she say anything else?" I nodded my hand and pulled my gloves up tighter as I remembered my dream.

_"You have the strength but not the skill just yet" Sineya looked down looking angry "They have failed you and for that I will give you special gifts to help". I looked at her shocked at the change of her mood "Who failed me, what are you talking about?" Sineya just smiled softly at me "You and I are very alike, we are alone"_

 


	8. Gifts And Death Threats

Everyone looked at me silently as I played with the loose cotton on my gloves "So is everyone thinking the same as me?" Xander asked out loud causing us all to look at him in question "What is with the gloves?" he said pointing to my gloves.

Buffy looked at me confused "Yeah I did wonder you haven't taken them off yet?" I pulled my hands under the table uncomfortably "Guys leave her alone it's probably nothing" Willow said smiling at me making realize how cool she was.

"It's to stop me...It's just uhh..." I started to stutter and get flustered "It's my 'gift' I think," I told them and sighed when they looked at me confused "What did she give you monkey hands, is that why you cover them up?" Xander asked jokingly.

I smiled and laughed a little "No she didn't give me monkey hands, I'd be able to control monkey hands" Giles sat on one of the chairs and looked at me softly "we uh..we can help you, Nikki, if you show us" I nodded and slowly took off my gloves.

The gang looked at me confused before watching me flick my wrist and the book in front of us flew across the room making them all jump up in shock "Did you just?" Buffy asked looking at me in shock, nodding I quickly put my gloves on.

"Oh that is so cool," Xander said to me before turning to Willow "imagine being able to get cheese balls without getting up" Willow just shook her hand and smack Xander's arm shutting him up. Giles just looked at me with a small smile "Telekinesis, she really has bestowed you with a great gift Nikki".

I shook my head "No it's a curse, you don't get it I can't control it. When I get angry it's way out of control and sometimes It happens on its own if my emotions get crazy" I told Giles getting panicked "You don't understand I could hurt someone" It was getting hard to breathe my chest felt tight.

Suddenly books started flying around the room and the bookcases were toppling over "I'm sorry" I shouted and running out of the library and back home.

* * *

 

Sitting at home I had unpacked my bags and was currently sat on my bed reading a book when I heard a knock at the door "Come in" I sighed seeing Buffy walk through the door knowing we were going to talk about my 'Telekinesis'

"So" she started as she got in to bed with me and pulled me to her "So" I replied putting the book down and snuggled into my sister just like old times "You didn't have the gloves in the summer" she said obviously as I nodded "It happened the day we had that argument" I told her quietly.

She sighed and leaned her head on mine "Why didn't you tell me?" I laughed and sat up "I was too busy getting my ass kicked by dead people" Buffy smiled but it didn't reach her eyes "Can you show me?" she asked quietly like I was a skittish animal she'd found.

We sat silently for a couple of minutes before I nodded and pulled off my gloves and tried to move a vase but It didn't move "sometimes it doesn't work when I want it to" I told Buffy whilst I was concentrating on the vase"Ahhh!" Buffy screamed at me I jumped making the vase hit the wall.

"What the hell did you do that for?" I shouted a Buffy who was looking at the broken vase in shock "I was just trying to help" she muttered as she watched me put my glove back on "Do you wear those all the time?" She asked nodding to my gloves, I nodded and rubbed my hands together feeling uncomfortable "Well don't worry Giles will figure something out, now get dressed".

I looked at Buffy confused "Get dressed for what?" Buffy turning around at the door "The Bronze it's a club we go to" I closed my eyes and sighed "Thank god, I thought it was going to be boring here" I told Buffy who laughed "Sunnydale is never boring".

Turning to my closet I pulled out some leather pants, a crop top, my favorite spikey boots and obviously a pair of gloves to match. Sitting at the table in the corner of the room I started to put on my make up leaving my hair down and messy.

30 minutes later I was ready, looking around my room I looked at the alarm clock next to my bed raising my arm I pointed it at the clock before lifting my arm, the alarm clock began to rise into the air shakily. Putting more concentration into it the alarm clock began to rise steadily.

"Hey, Nikki ready?" Buffy said barging into my room making the alarm clock fall to the floor "Whoops sorry" I mock glared at my sister before sliding my gloves on and closing my door.

* * *

 

Sitting at a table I drank my Coke and watched as Willow tried to tutor Buffy in french whilst the other inhabitants of the club danced, even Xander "La vache... doit me... touche... de la... jeudi" I spat out my Coke and looked at my sister shocked "Was it wrong? Should I use the plural?" she asked looking at me and Willow.

Willow shook her head kindly "No. But you said, The cow should touch me from Thursday" I smirked as Buffy looked deflated "Maybe that's what I was feeling" She said pouting" And you said it wrong" Willow added trying not to hurt Buffy's feelings.

"Oh, je stink" Buffy muttered sliding down in her chair as a boy with dark brown hair walked by and winked at Buffy "Je ne sais pas à propos de vaches mais je pense qu'il veut vous toucher" I said making Willow laugh and Buffy look at me in shock.

"That was funny," Willow said to me laughing as Buffy continued to stare "You know French?" I nodded as she pouted again "Oh great I suck" Willow grimaced and shook her head "You're just not focused. It's Angel missage"

I looked at Buffy and Willow "Who's Angel?" Buffy flushed whilst Willow smirked at me "That's Buffy's boyfriend" I looked at my twin in shock "What you didn't tell me you had a boyfriend, What's he like? How old is he?".

"around 241," Willow says smiling "What?" I scream as Xander walks up to the table "Guys, I'm all alone out there. Somebody has to dance with me" Xander says holding out his hand which I happily take laughing.

"Well, we are studying," Willow says pointing to her and Buffy "C'mon, one dance. You've been studying nearly twelve minutes" Xander pleads with Buffy and Willow "No wonder my brain's fried," Buffy says jumping up to join me and Xander.

Willow starts to protest, but Buffy and Xander drag her along with us. Dancing next to my sister we all laugh and smile having a good time when my head starts tingling I look up to see a very good looking man watching us his bleached blonde hair was slicked back and wore a leather duster.

Ignoring my head I continued to laugh and dance with my twin and my new friends "Where's the phone? I need to call the police. There's some big guy out there trying to bite somebody" A voice shouts over the crowd. Buffy is the first one to run out of the door with me a close 2nd.

A vampire has a girl in his grasp she cries with fear as he grabs her neck and moves in for the bite. Buffy grabs him by the shoulder and pulls him off of her. He somersaults and rolls up to his feet "Slayer!" he growls at my sister as me, Xander and Willow watch from the door.

"Slayee!" Buffy retorts sassily "Nice" I complimented as she does a roundhouse kick to his face. The vamp only flinches a bit. He swings at her, but she sidesteps the blow. She swings back, and he grabs her arm, swings her around and throws her into a metal roll-up door. She hits it high and hard and falls to the ground.

I quickly run into the fight and kick the vamp he falls but gets back up quickly, He swings but I block his punch and hold on to his arm. Buffy looks up from the floor at the others and points to the crying girl "Get her out of here!"

Buffy gets up and we take it in turns to punch the vampire "and a stake would be nice!" Buffy calls to Xander who runs to find a stake. Buffy punches the vampire's face again and then his chest. He gets loose from her and lands a punch on my face.

Flying a couple of feet away I growled and looked at the vampire who suddenly flys backward untouched, Buffy looked down at me knowingly "Thanks" I nodded even though It was out of my control, feeling like I was being watched I looked over to see the blonde dude watching me from the shadows.

The vamp gets up when Buffy is distracted and punches her she goes spinning down to the ground and lies there stunned. The vampire stands over her "I don't need to wait for St. Vigeous you're mine then you" the vamp growls point at me.

He bends down to get Buffy but she kicks him in the face. He staggers backward as she jumps to her feet "Spike! Gimme a hand!" Buffy and I both look over to where 'spike' was standing watching us from the shadows still.

Xander runs back to us with a stake "Buffy!" She turns to him and he throws her the stake. She catches it out of the air and plunges it into the vampire's chest.

He doesn't even have time to fall before he crumbles to dust, Spike comes out of the shadows slowly clapping his hands. Buffy looks at him with a confused expression on her face as she helps me up Willow and Xander see him, too.

"Nice work, loves," he says with a British accent that makes me weak at the knees until I remember he's a possible baddie "Who are you?" Buffy asks him he voice cutting like a razor.

"You'll find out on Saturday," Spike said with a smirk on his face as he steps towards us "What happens on Saturday?" Buffy asks keeping a tight grip on me as Spike's eyes stayed on me before moving back to Buffy.

"I kill you" I gasped causing Spike to look at me again "But not you, you interest me little birdy see you soon" We all stood speechlessly and just watched him leave.


	9. Meeting Angel & Another Dream..

Standing in the library the table is full of books, and Xander, Willow, and Jenny who I collided with when running through the library doors are looking through them doing research “Spike. That's what the other vampire called him? That's a little unorthodox, isn't it?” Giles says out loud as Buffy sits on the table “Maybe he's reformed”

“Perhaps he went by another name in... times past,” Giles says to us as we place the swords on the table next to the books “Well, whoever he is, we'll need all the help we can get come this Saturday”

I nodded at Jenny in agreement although 'Spike' said he wouldn't kill me I still didn't want to be caught off guard with him. Xander and Willow walked over to us “So, this night of St. Vigeous deal. If they're gonna attack in force, aren't we thinkin' vacation?” Xander says looking at us all worried.

“We can't run, that would be wrong. Could we hide? I mean, if that Spike guy is leading the attack” Willow says before shuddering “Well, he can't be any worse than any other creature you've faced”

“He's worse” I jumped at the sudden voice next to me I turned to see tall dark and handsome stood there “Once he starts something he doesn't stop until everything in his path is dead,” He told us all very stoically.

“Hmm. So, he's thorough, goal-oriented” Xander pointing out in a humorous voice but I was still looking at this guy whom suddenly appeared and everyone looks like it's normal “Wait who the hell are you?” I asked seriously before looking at my sister.

“Oh right Angel my sister Nikki, Nikki this is Angel” Angel looked at me and gave me what I think was a smile but looked more like a brood “Wait this is Angel” everyone nodded “And you're 241” Angel nodded “Am I out of the loop or are you dating a vampire” I asked my sister before looking back at Angel and moving away from him a little.

“Don't even think about looking at my neck sunshine” I told him making Xander offer me a fist bump I shook my head and rolled my eyes “We were at the Bronze before. Thought you said you might show” Buffy said to Angel all innocent.

“You said you weren't sure if you were going,” Angel said looking at Buffy confused making me snort “I was being cool. C'mon, you've been dating for, what, like, two hundred years? You don't know what a girl means when she says maybe she'll show?”

“Wow, two centuries of dating. If you only had two a year, that's still, like, four hundred” Willow said before Buffy gives her a look “dates with four hundred different...” Willow trails off when she sees us all looking at her.

Willow looks at the mace on the table “Why do they call it a mace?” I smiled at my new friend's awkwardness “Uh, we do have slightly more urgent matters to discuss” Giles says seriously “Yeah, like keeping my mom away from Principal Snyder tomorrow night?”

I let out a laugh “Sucks to be you” Buffy mock glared at me “And not dying Saturday” Jenny added to which I totally agree with I would like to keep my sister alive a lot longer.

“Angel, do you know if this Spike fellow goes under any other name?” We all look where he was, but he has disappeared. The library doors finish shutting “Okay, that's it. I'm puttin' a collar with a little bell on that guy” 

* * *

  
Getting home I noticed Buffy was quiet.. too quiet, sitting on the stairs I take off my shoes, I looked up at my older sister “What's up B” Buffy looked down at me and sighed “Do you think I'm bad for dating Angel? I mean we're slayers we kill his kind”

I felt Buffy sit next to me and put her head on my shoulder “Well you said he has a soul right?” Buffy nodded but said nothing “Well then I guess it's ok, Although he's much too pretty, I like my men rough around the edges and listen to rock like the rolling stones and sex pistols”

Buffy giggles and chased me up the stairs “Bed girls!” mom shouted from her room, we giggled and hugged each other goodnight, opening my bedroom door I looked at Buffy “Hey Buff” she looked up at me “Always” I told her making her smile widely at me “Always” she repeated.

* * *

  
I sighed bored Buffy was at school and mom was at work I looked down at my gloved hands I had been practicing my Telekinesis a lot today so I felt wiped out, laying on the couch I looked at the clock and my eyes closed and opened again, the ticking was making me sleepy, closing my eyes again I fell into a deep sleep.

_“Nikki....Nikki... I flinched looking around and seeing myself in a graveyard “Oh great this again” feeling my head tingling I went with my instincts and dropped to the floor like a cat._

_Watching as Sinyea dove over the top of my head I smirk, she stood looking very proud before throwing herself at me again, ducking and blocking I managed to hold own against her this time._

_“Very good, I see you have come into one of your gifts,” she said smirking at me “Yeah, wait one?” Sineya nodded at me before walking closer to me and moving my hair out of the way almost kindly._

_“I have bestowed many great gifts upon you” I shook my head “I appreciate that and all but I can't control the one I have” Sineya smiled at me and pulled my hand up to her my eyes widened when I realized I didn't have my gloves on._

_“You need to stop repressing them, the gloves only make it worse,” she told me letting my hands drop “use them and believe in yourself,” she told me before disappearing leaving me in the graveyards on my own.“Nikki... Nikki” Oh great now what._

Opening my eyes I jumped seeing my mom leaning over me “Nikki?” Mom smiled when I got up “Sorry to wake you but you have to get dressed now” I looked up at mom confused “Why?” mom smiled again “Well it's parent teacher night for Buffy and I'm not leaving you home alone at night”.

Nodding I went upstairs and changed into some casual clothes, looking at my gloves I remembered what Sineya had said and left them on my bed keeping my hands bare “Come on sweetheart Buffy will be waiting”

* * *

  
Walking into the school I went to find Buffy whilst mom parked I smiled seeing Buffy, Willow and Xander “Hey guys” I smiled “Hey Nikki, wow no gloves?” Buffy said confused “I had another little visit in my dreams” they all caught on and nodded “Maybe that's something you can talk to Giles about,” Willow said helpfully.

“Hi, Mrs. Summers,” Willow says behind me I turn to see my mom walking up to us “Hi, Willow. Hi, honey. Did you, uh, do all this?” Mom asked Buffy looking very proud “Yeah! Um, here, have some lemonade” Buffy says picking up a cup for mom.

“Right after Willow shows you the library. I have to stay here and hostess” Buffy says erratically putting the cup down and making a face at Willow “Great, the library” Willow put her arm around mom before turning back to Buffy “Uh, um, ooo, no, G-Giles and everyone...”

“...is locked in there studying. Right. French class it is!” We all smiled and laughed falsely as Buffy tried to keep Mom away from her teachers. “Was that your mother?” A man says to Buffy whom grabs a cup and a ladle full of lemonade and turns toward him.

“Here” she fakes a spill on him “Oh! Oh, sorry! Um, yeah! Yeah, I was gonna introduce you, but, um, she wouldn't have said much. Y'know, she doesn't speak a word of English”

The man looks at me “And you are” I looked at him with a raised eyebrow “I'm Buffy's twin sister, Nikki” He nodded looking at me seriously “have you ever burnt down a school?” I looked at him with a smirk “Not today”

* * *

  
A girl with long dark hair walks up to Buffy with a frown “Giles has us locked up in that library working on _your_ weapons. Even slaves get minimum wage.” she stands and stares at Buffy's face.

“What?” Buffy asks the girl “You're starting to look a little slagged. What, are you just skipping foundation entirely now?” I looked at the girl angrily this must be the infamous Cordelia.

“Cordelia, I have at least three lives to contend with, none of which really mesh. It's kind of like oil and water and a... third unmeshable thing” I had no idea what Buffy was talking about but I backed her up.

“Yeah, and I can see the oil” Cordelia looks over to see mom talking to Willow “Is that your mom?” Buffy nods as Cordelia looks at mom again “Now that is a woman that knows how to moisturize. Did it, like, skip a generation?”

“Hey!” I shouted at her in offense “Cordelia this is my twin sister Nikki, Nikki this is the lovely Cordelia” Buffy introduced, Cordelia smiled at me “You definitely take after your mom” she smiled obviously trying to get at Buffy.

“Can I crush her Larynx with my boot now?” I asked Buffy who just laughed when Cordelia looked shocked “Don't tempt me” Buffy muttered putting out more cups.

Mom walks over to us “Well, I believe that I have seen every classroom on campus, and just as I get there all your teachers miraculously have stepped out”

Willow smiles over Mom's shoulder, proud of herself “Oh. Um, but you haven't seen the boiler room yet. And, you know, that's really interesting, what with the boiler being in the room and all” Buffy says laughing nervously.

Buffy's principal walks up to us quickly and mom offers her hand to him but he ignores it making me clench my fists “Hi. I'm Joyce Summers. I'm Buffy's mother”

The Principal looks at Mom seriously “Principal Snyder. I'm afraid we need to talk. My office is down here” Mom looks at Buffy before following Buffy's principal.

Cordelia watches them go with a huge smile on her face “He didn't look very happy” Buffy says with a pout “But you did such a good job” Willow says rubbing Buffy's arm “When they're done talking., My guess? Tenth high school reunion, you'll still be grounded”

Buffy glares at Cordelia and walks off “Cordelia, have some lemonade” Willow says leading Cordelia to the punch table smirking.

 


	10. Us Against Them

Buffy, Me and Willow see Snyder coming back in with my mom and she looked furious “In the car, now” she growls at Buffy before glancing at me “You too Nicola” Buffy and I exchange a concerned look.

We started to follow mom out, I turned my head to look back at Snyder, who's going around turning off the lights. Mom waits for us to join her, and we walk out of the room.

Hearing a smash, Buffy and I charge back into the room to see vampires have lined themselves up as Spike walks in through the broken window cockily “What can I say? I couldn't wait”

Buffy and I stand side by side looking at the vampires, Spike attacks and I throw a chair at him, tripping him up as we run back out of the room and Buffy grabs mom's hand.

We turn down the hall to the right, but more vampires come in that way, so we had to go the other way.

In the hall, another vampire is guarding an exit, so we head in another direction “Everybody, this way! C'mon! C'mon!” I shout as Snyder and several others run past me as I shove a cleaning cart into the two vampires chasing us.

Running down the hall to the library a confused Giles, Jenny and Xander come running out “What the hell?!” Giles shouts seeing us running “Spike and an army! Look out!” Buffy calls to them, they look behind us and see a vampire making Jenny scream.

Continuing to run Buffy opens the door to the science classroom “In here! Now!” Buffy shouts ushering us into the room before closing and locking the door as two vampires come running into the hall and begin banging on the door.

Snyder and another man maneuver a storage cabinet in front of the door. Buffy runs over to the other door and closes and locks it just as the power goes out “Spike” I growled feeling my hands shake but luckily the emergency light come on.

“Who are those people, and what do they want?” A man shouts out loud panicking “I didn't get much of a look but is there something wrong with their faces?” Mom says to him trying to seem helpful.

“Yes! PCP! It's a gang on PCP! We've gotta get out of here” Snyder says as he grabs a desk, sets it in front of a window and starts climbing “You can't go outside! They'll kill you!”.

Snyder looks at Buffy with a glare “You don't tell me! I tell you!” I pull him off the table easily as Buffy speaks to him calmly “They will kill everybody in this room. Nobody goes out, nobody comes in until we say so. Do you hear me?” Buffy says point to herself and me.

“Who do you two think you are?” Snyder shouts at us, I get in his face angrily “We're the one that knows how to stop them” I look up and walk across the room, trying to find a way into the ceiling.

Mom grabs my shoulders “Nikki, are you crazy? Look, I know you've been accused of fighting and other things, but those guys are serious. You can't go out there” I smiled and held her hands into mine “I know. That's why I'm going up there”

Walking over to my sister I put my foot into her hands and climb up into the ceiling and pulling her up after, I looked down at my mom “Don't worry about us Mom” crawling through the attic I knocked spiderwebs out of the way.

“Okay I think we will have a better chance if we split up,” I told Buffy who looked at me worried “Are you sure?” I nodded feeling very scared but I knew this was my duty to protect, just like Buffy.  
  
“Someone's in the ceeeeeiling!” Buffy and I looked at each other wide-eyed hearing Spike underneath us “Just go” Buffy nodded and we started to crawl in opposite directions.

“If I die I'm soooo haunting her ass” I growled out loud as I kicked the air vent off and dropping to the floor, peeking around the door I saw a vampire trying to get into the science room with an ax.

I looked down at my hands “Don't fail me now” I muttered and walked out of the room “hey!” the vamp looked up at me mid-swing, throwing my arm up the vamp flew across the hall and hitting the wall.

“Yes!” I shouted doing a victory dance “Well well well what did I catch here?” I gasped and spun around to see Spike smiling at me with his normal face on, turning I began to run with Spike chasing me.

Feeling an arm around my waist I squealed as Spike tackled me through a door and then pining me to a wall with his arm over my neck “Hello birdy” he smirked at me showing his pointy white teeth.

“Now I've caught you what should I do with you” flexing my hands I gasped seeing as my Telekinesis wasn't working in my favor right now “Now little birdy what are you trying to do” Spike's eyes widened when he was suddenly thrown backward.

Running back out of the classroom I gasped seeing Angel with Xander In his grip “What the?” I screamed when I felt Spike grab me again “Now little birdy what was that?” I struggled against him as he laughed.

“Me thinks you have a little secret” he taunted before looking at Angel “Angelus!” Spike shouts happily as Angel wraps his arm around Xander's neck “Spike!”Angel calls back but monotone.

“I'll be damned!” Spike says pull me to him when he hugs Angel “Ughh” me and Xander both say after being stuck between the two vampires “I taught you to always guard your perimeter. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should have someone out there”

Spike laughed and pulled me to him tighter “I did. I'm surrounded by idiots. What's new with you?” Angel looked at Spike seriously “Everything” Jeez does Angel have any other ocative in his voice other than monotone.

“Yeah. Come up against this Slayer yet?” Spike asks looking at Angel excitedly “She's cute. Not too bright, though. Gave the puppy dog 'I'm all tortured' act. Keeps her off my back when I feed!” Angel says laughing with Xander still in his grip.

“Hey!” I shouted offended again “So little birdy knows the slayer huh” I tried to move and fight against Spike but he held my hands tight together he knew what I could do “She's my sister” I muttered.

Angel grabs Xander by the hair and shirt and holds up his exposed neck “Wanna bite before we kill the slayer” Spike looks at Angel suspiciously “I haven't seen you in the killing fields for an age”

“I'm not much for company” Angel mutters “No, you never were. So, why are you so scared of this Slayer?” Angel looked over at Spike surprise “Scared?”

Spike nodded “Yeah. Time was you would've taken her out in a heartbeat. Now, look at you. I bet this, uh, tortured thing is an act, right? You're not... housebroken?” Spike said almost laughing.

“I saw her kill the Master. Hey, you think you can take her alone? Be my guest. I'll just feed and run” Angel roars and bends to Xander's neck, Spike holds up his hand “Don't be silly! We're all friends. We'll do it together. Let's drink to it”   
  
I felt Spike let go of my hands as they both slowly lean into Xander's neck, At the last minute Spike punches Angel in the face, making him stagger back “You think you can fool me?! You were my sire, man! You were my... Yoda!”

I grimaced “You know who Yoda is?” Spike shushed me and tightened his grip again as Angel looks at me and then Spike “Things change. Like I heard there's a new slayer in town”

Spike laughs “Is that right?” flinging my head back I swore when it made contact with vampires face and then brought my arm up and sent him flying “It's damn right” I told him cockily.

“Come on, people! This isn't a spectator sport!” Spike growled at the other vampires who were watching us as he picks up a metal pole, the vampires roar, and attack. Xander barges out the door behind him and runs with Angel following him as the other vampires give chase.

Spike senses someone behind him and looks up “Fe, fi, fo fum. I smell the blood of a nice ripe girl” he says turning to look at Buffy who throws me a baseball bat as she holds up an ax “Do we really need weapons for this?”

“I just like them. They make me feel all manly” Spike taunted as he drops the pole and slowly steps toward Buffy and she drops the ax. “The last Slayer I killed... she begged for her life”

Buffy slowly walks to the middle of the hall, watching him intently “You two don't strike me as the begging kind” I growled as I watched Spike glance between me and Buffy “You shouldn'ta come here” Buffy says to him as she circles him so her back is to me now.

“No. I've messed up your doilies and stuff. But I just got so bored. I'll tell you what. As a personal favor from me to you, I'll make it quick. It won't hurt a bit” Spike smirked cockily then looks over Buffy's shoulder and winked at me.

“No, Spike. It's gonna hurt a lot” They start to fight Buffy and Spike exchange several blows. He throws her into the wall but Buffy gets back up and ducks a punch and lands four of her own in a row.

Spike grabs her arm and shoves her into the wall. She slides down it quickly, and Spike's next punch goes through the wall. I jump in behind spike and kicks him high and hard in the neck “Now, that hurt!” he roared at me and kicks me into a wall where I slide to the ground gasping for breath.

He pulls his arm out of the wall, ripping a stud out with it, and swings it into Buffy's face. She flies back and lands on the floor, stunned “but not as much as this will”

He stands over her and wields back the stud to slam it into her, but suddenly goes sprawling to the floor and looks up at his attacker. Mom stands above him with the ax in her hands, ready to swing again “You get the hell away from my daughters!”

Spike holds the stud above himself to protect against any blows, Buffy and I get to our feet “Women!” Spike growls again and gets up and runs through the lounge and out the broken window.

Mom exhales and drops the ax “Nobody lays a hand on my little girls” she says to us and pulls us both into a hug as we all laugh and smile together. 

* * *

 

Buffy, Mom and I, were all standing outside the school “So, what did you and Principal Snyder talk about anyway?” Buffy asked mom nonchalantly “Principal Snyder said you were a troublemaker” Buffy looks down in shame “And I could care less”

Buffy looked at our mom shocked “I have two daughters who can take care of themselves. Who's brave and resourceful and thinks of others in a crisis. No matter who you hang out with or what dumb teenage stuff you think you two need to do, I'm gonna sleep better knowing all that” Buffy and I look at our feet bashful and smile.

“About how long till this wears off and you start ragging on us again?” Mom throws her arms around me and Buffy as we walk to the car “Oh, at least a week and a half” I turned and smiled at mom “Very Cool!”


	11. Totally Over It

Buffy sighed I put the last of my stuff into my bags “Can't you stay?” she says pouting holding Mr. Gordo to her chest tightly “We've been an awesome team lately, plus I'm sure mom would love it”.

We both looked up as we heard the door creak “Of course I would” Mom says walking to us and stroking both of our hair “ but this isn't our choice Buffy” Mom hands me my clean clothes and I stuff them into my bag deep in thought.

“I'll think about it,” I told Buffy knowing I'd have to ask my dad, plus he still hasn't found a school for me back home. “Come on let's get you to the bus depo” nodding I picked up my suitcase and bag effortlessly. Slayer powers are awesome!

“So why couldn't dad pick you up again?” Buffy asked when we got into the car, I shrugged “He was busy with work stuff” I said as I watched Sunnydale suburbs pass me by.

“Here we go,” Mom says pulling into the bus depo “I'm going to miss you so much” Mom whispered holding my face, I pulled her and Buffy into a hug “Think about what I said” Buffy whispered into my ear.

Nodding I picked up my bags “Don't forget to pick up Ampata” I told Buffy and got onto my bus, sitting by the window I waved to them feeling my eyes fill with tears _Did I really want to stay?_

* * *

  
Getting off the bus I began the small trek home and thanked the gods for my unnatural strength because other wise I wouldn't have been able to carry my bags home.

Opening the front door I opened my mouth to shout to dad when I heard a female giggle coming from the living room, walking to the door I saw her, my dad's Fiancee Paige sitting on the sofa with her legs over my dad's lap.

“So this is why you couldn't pick me up from mom's” I called loudly making Dad and Paige jump up “Nikki you're home!” Dad called turning off tv which had some type of romantic show on.

“Obviously,” I told them dryly as they both looked at me uncomfortably “So how long has she been here? Is that why you shipped me off to Sunnydale?” Dad and Paige looked at each other but their eyes never met mine.

“Oh god it's true isn't it,” I said gasping it was just supposed to be a scathing comment but it was true “You acted like you care but nope it's because you knew she was coming home” Paige was used to be my dad's secretary that how they met.

Then they had an affair and Paige was promoted and now works out in Spain most of the time “Nikki..” Paige started I looked at her with fire in my eyes “No you don't get to talk to me ever!” I shouted at her and took my bags upstairs.

Telekinetically slamming my door I was furious and the fact that most of my furniture was levitating just showed it “Who the hell do they think they are!” I growled and threw myself onto my bed.

Flicking my wrist my furniture slowly began to drift back to the floor, turning on my TV I watched the news whilst twirling a stake in my hand. An hour passed before I was shouted back downstairs.

Slowly making my way to the dining room I tried to listen to my dad's and Paige's whispering, they looked up when I walked into the room with all of my obvious teenage angst.

Sitting down at the table we all ate in silence until my dad cleared his throat “So Nikki, Paige has been promoted” I looked over at Paige who was smiling and batting her eyelashes at my dad “good for you” I muttered continuing to eat.

“Well the promotion means Paige has to move to Spain permanently” I looked up at my dad and smiled before turning to Paige and mock frowning “Aww that's too bad but still I'm sure my dad and I will miss you”

Paige gasped slightly as Dad cleared his throat again “No Nikki we'll be...going with her” I dropped my fork and looked at my dad shocked “You want me to move to Spain?” I asked him in disbelief.

“Well it's not like I've found a school for you yet and you always said you wanted to move somewhere sunny and exotic,” Dad said to me looking proud of himself, pushing myself from the table I knocked over my chair.

“Yeah with you, mom and Buffy. Not Cruella De Ville over there!” I screamed pointing at Paige who was beginning to look upset, I turned to her and growled “is it not enough that you're a home wrecker but now you have to take my dad away across the world”.

Paige gasped and began to sob as I ran back up to my bedroom and slammed the door by hand this time it makes the anger feel better, picking up the phone in my room I called Buffy “Hello?” she answered sounding bored.

“It's Nikki,” I told her with my hands shaking trying to keep my temper down “Hey what's up,” she asked sounding more concerned now “Dad couldn't pick me up because he was spending a lovely week with Cruella De Ville,” I said making Buffy gasp “No”

I nodded even though she couldn't see me “Yep but that's not the worst” I said to Buffy knowing this would upset her just as much as it upset me “Dad's moving to Spain with Paige and they want me to go too” I said slowly trying not to upset Buffy.

Buffy gasped “When the hell was he going to tell me?” I grimaced hearing anger in her voice “I don't want to go Buffy” I muttered feeling very much like the little sister right now begging her older sister for help.

“Then come here,” Buffy said almost desperately “please I need you” my lips trembled when I realized that I needed my twin as much as she needed me “Ok, Let's do it” I flinched when I heard Buffy squeal “I'm going to tell mom”.

I nodded and heard the dial tone “how many times is she going to hang up on me” Taking a deep breath I opened my door and walked back down to the dining area where Dad and Paige were still sat silently.

I coughed to get their attention “I think it's best for everyone involved that I go live with mom and Buffy” I told my dad emotionless “You and Paige can go live in Spain with Dylan and Lucy” Dylan and Lucy were Paige's kids from her marriage.

Dad looked up at me “no.. no you can come with me and Paige, it'll get better and we can be a family” he said as Paige just stared at her plate she obviously agreed with me.

I shook my head “Please stop, just stop” I told my dad with tears in my eyes I had suffered him being a dead beat for long enough and I didn't want him to start pretending to care now “I'm done, I'm done with all of this”

Dad sighed and looked at me “Is this really what you want” he asked me monotone, I laughed scathingly “for longer than I realized” Dad flinched like I had hit him and nodded “I'll call your mother” he muttered rubbing a hand over his face.

Nodding I turned and began to walk away “I'm sorry” Paige whispered looking at me almost sadly “I'm not” I replied calmly as I walked away to my bedroom where the tears began to flow.

This moment was bittersweet I gained my mom and twin back but I was losing the father I hoped would change his ways but didn't, a knock at the door pulled me out of my thought “Yeah” I called playing with my cross necklace.

Dad opened the door but didn't try to walk in “Your mom was more than happy to have you but we both agreed on a week, You stay with me another week and then you can go live with your mom”

I nodded and picked at my bear that was identical to Mr. Gordo but I had dyed him tie dye back when I had a problem with and Buffy being bought the same things “She's also going to enroll you in Buffy's school” I nodded again as he sighed “Can I say anything to make you stay”

I looked up at my dad with tear filled eyes and shook my head “I'm just done” I whispered to him as he left himself back out of my room “I'm totally over it” I whispered to myself feeling empty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	12. Return To Sunnydale

The next week had dragged on but it was finally here the day I was going to live in Sunnydale, I had spent the last week packing my stuff and kicking some major vamp ass. Grabbing my bags I grimaced seeing Paige walk out my dad's room in only his shirt.

I smirked at her when she looked at me “What?” She muttered crossing her arms “Nothing” I said sweetly walking past her “it's just a leopard never changes his spots” Paige looks at me annoyed “So just remember that when he plays away on you sweetheart”.

Laughing spitefully I walked downstairs where my dad was sitting and reading the paper until he saw me walk into the room, looking up the stairs where the bathroom door had just slammed “What did you do?” Dad sighed rubbing his face.

I put on a mock shocked face “Me? What makes you think I did anything?” I smiled innocently as dad stared at me “because Nikki you were not made sugar, spice and all things nice” shrugging I walked passed my dad put my bags by the door.

Dad stood by me tense “So do you want me to drive you or?” I laughed internally before shaking my head “I already got a bus ticket” Dad nodded and pulled me into an awkward hug.

I picked my bags up and opened the door leaving behind a deadbeat dad and a home wrecker I don't want people in my life who don't want to be there.

“you can always come with us!” Dad shouts half-assed down the street to me, gaining the attention of the neighbors “Don't hold your breath” I shouted back smiling feel very much like my old badass self again. 

* * *

  
Looking out of the window of the bus I smiled seeing the 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign again I knew this was the right decision for me and my destiny, The bus slowed down as we got to the bus station and I picked up my bags.

Getting off the bus I frowned looking around Where was mom and Buffy? “Nikki” I turned at the call of Buffy's voice and laughed there stood my mom, Buffy, Xander, Willow, Giles and even Jenny holding a sign saying 'Welcome Home!' I gulped trying to keep down the tear which had surprised me.

I run over to them and was engulfed in a hug by Buffy, Xander, and Willow. Before being gently hugged by my mom, Giles, and Jenny respectively. “Thanks, everyone,” I said this was the nicest thing anyone had done for me in a long time.

Walking towards mom car I smiled “ So what's the plan” I asked my sister “Movie night?” she said looking at Willow and Xander who nodded their heads eagerly before we all looked up at mom who sighed playfully “Ok but not all night, it's a school day and Nikki's first day at Sunnydale High”

Waving goodbye to Giles and jenny we all piled into the car “I can't believe I'm actually going back to school tomorrow” I muttered to everyone in the car “Should be interesting” I tell them laughing before looking up at seeing my mom look at sternly “Never mind”

* * *

  
After putting my stuff away and getting my clothes ready for tomorrow I jumped into bed with Buffy who was sat watching a film with Xander and Willow.

“What's this?” I whispered to her as she passed me some popcorn “some cheesy horror Xander wanted to watch” I nodded and looked down at Xander and Willow who were both cowering behind pillows.

“Looks like he's enjoying it,” I said sarcastically throwing some popcorn into my mouth.

Watching the tv didn't really know what was going on but I knew there as going to be a big jump scare, the room was silent as we watched the tv when “Buffy?” Xander, Willow, and Buffy all screamed as Angel climbed through the window.

“How did that not scare you,” Xander said cradling his bowl of cheese balls and looking at me, I laughed at them.

“Balls of steel” I looked over at Angel who was staring at Buffy “Come one let's finish this in my room” Xander and Willow nodded and followed me into my room.

Xander turned on the tv whilst me and Willow jumped into the bed, Xander quickly got in next to me so I was squeezed in the middle of the two.

Looking at the tv I frowned “Xander you left the cheese balls in front of the tv” Xander looked at me and sighed before sitting up.

“I got it,” I told him a lifted my hand and curled my finger in a come here motion, the bowl of cheese balls floated over to us steadily. Xander looked at me and smiled “See I told you, so cool” me and Willow laughed as we watched the film.

* * *

  
When the film finished I sighed “All in favor for not letting Xander choosing the next film say I” Willow laugh but held up her hand with mine “I” Buffy opened the door and jumped on the bed “What are we voting for?”

Willow smiled and turned to Buffy “never letting Xander choose the next movie night movie” Buffy grimaced and looked at Xander before slowly raising her hand “I” Xander looked at us and put his hand up too nodding “I”

We all fell into a fit of laughs eating the last of the cheese balls and popcorn “So tomorrow is Halloween” Willow said looking at us “Good observation Will” Xander said to Willow sarcastically, hitting his arm I gasped when he recoiled.

“Oh god I'm sorry,” I said putting my hands on my mouth, Xander smiled and rubbed the spot where I had playfully hit him “Forgot about the slayer strength huh?” nodding I pulled a sorry face when Buffy laughed.

“So costumes?” Buffy said looking at us “Any clues?” we all shrugged and looked at each other “ I usually just get drunk” I told them making them look at me in shock “but this year I'm willing to play along” I laughed at they smile brightly at me.

“Damn now I have to think of a costume” I muttered making everyone laugh “Ohh what about Nancy Spungen?” The three of them looked at me very confused “Who?” Xander whispered to Buffy who shrugged “Ohh is she that figure skater!” Willow called loudly making me look at her seriously “No” I deadpanned “She's..nevermind” I sighed _kids these days_...

A knock on my door stopped me mid-eye roll “Hey guys,” Mom said walking in “it's getting late now and it's your first day you should get some rest,” Mom said to us and then pointing at me.

Nodding we cleaned up the mess we'd made before walking downstairs “We'll go Halloween shopping tomorrow after school” Buffy said waving to Xander and Willow.

“Halloween shopping?” mom asked looking at us with a big smile “Yeah we're going to dress up and hang out,” I told mom as she clapped happily “That's great my two girls together for Halloween again”.

I smiled as Buffy pulled us into a big hug “So who are you going to be?” mom asked as we sat on the couch “I have no idea” Buffy muttered running her hand through her hair “I'm thinking Nancy Spungen” Mom smiled at me as she walked into the kitchen “Oh honey that's a great idea!”.

I looked over at my sister who was deep in thought “What's up?” Buffy looked at me and shrugged “Just stuff with Angel” she whispered and looked over at the kitchen “You still worried cause he's a vamp?” I asked wrapping my arm around her.

She shook her head “I just think I'm not uh that I'm not good enough for him” I pulled back from my sister and raised my eyebrows in shock “You not good enough for Angel? Are you crazy?.

Buffy just shrugged at me looking very self-conscious I laughed “Why do you think he'd want someone more like Cordelia!” I stopped laughing when Buffy didn't say otherwise “You're serious? Cordelia” she nodded sadly.

I blew out a long breath “Buffy I really don't think Angel wants anyone other than you, think about it he could have anyone he wanted and he chose you. Plus I spent 5 minutes with Cordelia and I wanted to jump off a very tall building”.

Buffy smiled and sighed “I..I know it's just I'm not normal,” she told me sadly but I just stared at her “He's not normal either B, just go for it .” Buffy nodded and smiled at me “See I told you I needed you” I just shook my head seriously "You don't need me, you need Jesus....or Oprah".

 


	13. Sunnydale High

Looking out of the window of Mom's car I saw my new school 'Sunnydale High' and sighed I wasn't ready to go back to school what if I accidentally use my telekinesis and hurt someone, at least Giles is close by in case.

“Have a fun day at school!” Mom shouted as Buffy and I got out of the car, staring up at the building I groaned “I don't think that's physically possible” Buffy laughed and pulled me inside.

After getting my timetable Buffy and I caught up with Willow and Xander “So are we still on for Halloween shopping?” Xander asked holding the straps of his backpack, We all nodded and walked down the hall.

Walking down the hall we saw Principal Snyder handing out forms for the safety program for Halloween. Snyder takes one of the clipboards and looks around the hall and grabs a girl that walks by and pulls her aside “Hey!” She shouts looking at Snyder like he was crazy.

“You're volunteering,” he told her holding out a clipboard and pen to her. “Snyder must be in charge of the volunteer safety program for Halloween this year,” Willow says pointing to the Principal who was still grabbing random people.

“Note his interesting take on the volunteer concept,” Xander says sarcastically making us laugh “What's the deal?” I asked leaning against Willow's locker as she works the combination. “Oh, a bunch of little kids need people to take them trick-or-treating. Sign up and get your own pack of sugar-hyped little runts for the night”

Willow slams her locker and we walk down the hall, grimacing I looked at Buffy who was also pulling a face “Yikes. We'll stick to vampires” I nodded in agreement and jumped when I felt a hand grab my shoulder.

“The Summers Twins, Just the juvenile delinquents I've been looking for” Snyder called out looking at me and Buffy “I've only been here an hour” I whispered, Snyder looked at me seriously “I've read your file,” he tells me dryly as I glared.

“Halloween must be a big night for you. Tossing eggs, keying cars, bobbing for apples, one pathetic cry for help after another. Well, not this year” Snyder says to me and Buffy as I continued to look offended.

“I've never keyed a car, joy rided sure but never keyed” I muttered to Willow and Xander making Buffy nudge me with her elbow when Snyder looked at me darkly.

“Gosh, I'd love to sign up, but I recently developed carpal tunnel syndrome, and can tragically no longer hold a flashlight,” Buffy says stuttering looking at us for help.

Snyder holds up the clipboard and pen “The program starts at four, the children have to be back at six” He tells us all, Buffy reluctantly grabs the pen and clipboard and signs herself up before passing it to me and I begrudgingly wrote my name.

Xander chuckles behind us obviously thinking it's funny and smiles back at Willow but Willow has a knowing look on her face. I smile as Snyder holds pens out to Willow and Xander too.

“We're going to have some much fun together,” I told them sarcastically with a smirk as they both look at Snyder before Willow gives in and takes the pen.

* * *

 

Walking down another hall we were all silent and upset at having been forced to sign up for the safety program “I can't believe this. We have to get dressed up and the whole deal?” Xander said unbelievingly.

We all nodded “Snyder said costumes were mandatory” Willow muttered looking at us “Great. We were going to stay in and veg. The one night a year things are supposed to be quiet for me” I looked at Buffy confused.

“Halloween quiet? Oh, I figured it'd be a big old vamp scare- apalooza” Xander said to us as we walked into what looked like a lounge area “Not according to Giles. He swears that tomorrow night is, like, dead for the undead. They stay in”

“Those wacky vampires! That's why I love 'em! They just keep you guessing!” Xander joked, I nodded and looked at my upset friends “it's not like we weren't going to get costumes anyway” I told them as Xander walked over to the vending machine.

Buffy, Willow and I talked about ideas for Halloween costumes for the safety program tonight “So I'm thinking something really simple” Willow told us with a small shrug, I nodded and turned to Buffy who was watching Xander “Hold that thought Will”.

We watched as Buffy stood and walked over to Xander who was being pushed around by a jock, I gasped as the jock grabs Xander by the shirt with his right hand. He balls his left hand into a fist and draws back for a punch. Buffy grabs his wrist, pulls it behind his back and slams his head into the vending machine.

She pulls the jock back from the machine and shoves him away, Xander looks at Buffy incredulously “I think she just did something bad” I told Willow when Xander looked more upset the closer they got to us.

“Oh, that? Forget about it!” Buffy tells Xander who throws his hands up “Oh, I'll forget about it. In maybe fifteen, twenty years when my rep for being a sissy man finally fades!” We all cringe when Xander shouts that, Buffy definitely did a big no-no.

Buffy stops in front of us and turns to Xander “Xander, don't you think you're...” Xander puts his hand up and sighs “A black eye heals, Buffy, but cowardice has an unlimited shelf life. Oh, thanks! Thanks a lot for your help” He grabs his bag from the table and walks off in a huff. Buffy moans and sits back down with us “I think I just violated the guy code big time” Willow and I nodded slowly as Buffy pouted.

Taking the Dr Pepper from Buffy's hand I drank some as Willow tried to reason with Buffy “Poor Xander. Boys are so fragile Speaking of, how was your date the other night?” I passed the can back as Buffy sighed miserably “Misfire. I was late due to unscheduled slayage. Showed up looking trashed” Buffy muttered shrugging her shoulders “Was he mad?” I asked her as she folded her arms looking upset.

“Actually he was pretty unmad. Which probably had something to do with the fact that Cordelia was drooling in his cappuccino”

Willow and I looked at each other with a grimace “Oh, Buffy. Angel would never fall for her act” I told her rubbing her arm, this must be what she was telling me last night.

“You mean that 'actually showing up, wearing a stunning outfit, embracing personal hygiene' act?” Buffy whispered to us.

We shook our heads “You know what I mean. Uh, she's not his type” Willow told Buffy stuttering obviously not sure on how to respond “Are you sure? I mean, I don't know what his type is. I've known him less than a year, and if you haven't noticed, he's not exactly one to overshare”

We nodded in silence thinking about Angel and Buffy “True. It's too bad we can't sneak a look at the Watcher diaries and read up on Angel. I'm sure it's full of fun facts to know and tell” Willow said looking at Buffy with a small smirk.

Buffy looked up at us with a smile “Yeah. It's too bad. That stuff is private” I smiled knowing Buffy was feeling better “Also Giles keeps them in his office. In his personal files” Willow continues nonchalantly still smirking.

I felt Buffy's arms wrap around my shoulder “Most importantly, it would be wrong but if only we had someone that could get the book without touching it or being seen” I looked at both girls when they started smiling at me deviously.

“What? Oh no my powers should never be used for evil” I told them with a straight face before laughing “I was only kidding let's go” We all laughed before jumping from the table and running towards the library.


	14. Pretty Coiffed

Looking through the round door window we didn't see Giles, Buffy quietly opens the door and we go in walking up to the counter and we look around again for Giles. Satisfied that he's not there Buffy shrugs and walks forward thinking we didn't need to use my telekinesis.

“Buffy, Nikki!” I spin around and see him in the cage getting some old books “Excellent!” he shouts holding some books in his arms “Nothing! Hi!” Buffy stuttered and shrugged when I gave her a 'what the hell' look.

“Yes, I-I just wanted to talk to you about tomorrow night. As it should be, uh, calm, you might work on some new battle techniques” Buffy and I just looked at each other as Willow looked wide-eyed.

“You're beginning to scare me, Giles. You need to have some fun” Buffy says standing in front of Giles and waves to Willow who shakes her head and mouths 'no'. Giles looks up, and Buffy pulls her hand back and pretends she was scratching her head.

“You know, there's this place you can go, right, and you sit in the dark, and there are these moving pictures, right, and the pictures tell a story,” Buffy tells Giles trying to keep his attention on us as Willow stood behind him.

Looking over to the office I concentrated on the Watcher Diaries and smiled when I saw it floating keeping my hand by my side I tried to get the book to Willow without Giles seeing me moving my hands.

Trying to ignore Buffy's and Giles conversation I watched as the book began to shake from my lack of concentration, the book slowly begins to drift passed Giles who grabs a stack of books again and starts to turn to his office “Look at me when I talk to you!” Buffy shouts at Giles who turns back to her with a weird look.

Willow looks over at me anxiously as the book slowly comes her way, Buffy looks over Giles' shoulder to see the book still floating. Hearing Giles getting more impatient I squint my eyes at the book and it flies into Willows arms who gives us a thumbs up.

Sighing I felt drained “But I've overstepped my bounds. It's none of my business, you know. What was I thinking? My God! Shame, shame. I gotta go” Buffy stutters pulling on my arm and running out of the library.

* * *

 

Sitting on the sink in the girl's bathroom I had my eyes closed whilst Buffy and Willow flick through the pages of the Watchers Diary “You ok?” I heard Buffy ask, opening my eyes I see her looking at me concerned.

Nodding I sat up “Just tired” Buffy nods and turns the page again and we gasp seeing a drawing of a noblewoman with a tiny waist wearing a billowy gown. I whistled muttered “Man, look at her”

Buffy sighs but doesn't say anything she just looks at the beautiful woman “Who is she?” Willow asks us but we shrug “It doesn't say, but the entry's dated 1775,” Buffy tells us pointing to the book.

“Angel was eighteen. And still human” Willow calculated as Buffy grimaced “So that's the kinda girl he hung around? She's pretty coiffed” I sniggered at the word coiffed then realized how tired I was to snigger at the word coiffed.

“She looks like a noblewoman or something. Which means being beautiful is sort of her job” I say to them as Willow nods quickly agreeing “And clearly this girl was a workaholic. I'll never be like this” Buffy says pouting.

“C'mon! She's not that pretty. I mean, look at her. She's got a funny... uh, waist. Look how tiny that is” I smile as Willow tries to find a flaw in this beautiful woman and failing “Thank you. Now I feel better” Buffy mutters sarcastically.

Willow exhales and shakes her head “No. She's like a freak. A circus freak. Yuk” Buffy sighed and looked down at the drawing “Musta been wonderful. Put on some fantabulous gown and go to a ball like a princess, and have horses and servants, and yet more gowns”

I frown as my sister sighs sadly “Yeah. Still, I think I prefer being able to vote” Buffy and I looked at Willow seriously “Or I will when I can” we all smile and laugh until Cordelia comes into the bathroom and goes to the mirror.

“So, Buffy. You ran off last night and left poor little Angel all by his lonesome. But I did everything I could to comfort him” I clench my fist when Cordelia taunts Buffy “I'll bet”

Cordelia starts to apply blush to her face “So, what's his story anyway? I mean, I never see him around” she asks looking at us in the mirror “Not during the day, anyway” Willow mutters looking at us.

Cordelia scoffs “Oh, please. Don't tell me he still lives at home. Like, he has to wait for his dad to get back before he can take the car?” she says putting her blush back in her purse.

“Cordelia, I think his parents have been dead for a couple of hundred years” Buffy deadpans looking at her seriously, Cordelia starts to touch up her lip gloss not really paying us any attention “Oh, good. I mean...What?”.

We all look at Cordelia like she was stupid “Angel's a vampire. I thought you knew?” Buffy tells her, Cordelia turns back to the mirror “Oh, he's a vampire. Of course! But the cuddly kind. Like a Carebear with fangs?” Cordelia mocked as she put her make up away.

“It's true” Willow tells her, Cordelia steps over to us “You know what I think? I just think you're trying to scare me off 'cause you're afraid of the competition. Look, Buffy, you may be hot stuff when it comes to demonology or whatever, but when it comes to dating, I'm the Slayer”.  
Cordelia walks away from us and I begin to raise my arm but Buffy pulls it back down “She's not worth it” Buffy just watches her go looking defeated.  
/*/  
Looking around Ethan's Costume Shop. The store is full of mothers with their kids looking for Halloween costumes. Buffy is holding a plastic pumpkin when it suddenly lights up and screams she quickly puts it back on the counter. Willow comes over to us “What'd you get?” Buffy asked her seeing her holding a bag.

“A time-honored classic!” She says excitedly and pulls out a very unflattering ghost costume, Buffy and I look at each other before looking back to Willow “Okay, Will, can we give you a little friendly advice?” Buffy says pointing at myself and her.

Willow looks at the costume in her hand “It's not spooky enough?” Buffy opens her mouth but sighs and looks at me “It's just... you're never gonna get noticed if you keep hiding. You're missing the whole point of Halloween” I tell her with a reassuring smile.

Willow smiles widely “Free candy?” Buffy and I shake our heads in unison “It's come as you aren't night. The perfect chance for a girl to get sexy and wild with no repercussions” Willow frowns when Buffy says that “Oh, I don't get wild. Wild on me equals spaz”.

Buffy and I look at Willow whose looking upset “Don't underestimate yourself. You've got it in you” I say putting a hand on her shoulder and smiling. “Hey, Xander!” Willow says perking up as Xander walks over to us “What'd you get?” she asks him.

He pulls a toy military rifle out of his bag and holds it up for us to see “That's not a costume” Buffy tells him but he just gives Buffy a look and turns back to Willow and me “I got fatigues from an Army surplus at home. Call me the Two-Dollar Costume King, baby!” Xander tells us happily but still doesn't look at Buffy.

“Hey, look, Xander I'm... really sorry about this morning,” Buffy says sighing when Xander still doesn't acknowledge her “Do you mind, Buffy? I'm trying to repress” He tells Buffy who just put her arms around him in a side hug “Okay, then I promise, from now on I'll let you get pummeled.”

Xander rolls his eyes “Thank you. Okay, y'know, actually I think I could've t...” Xander stops talking when he sees Buffy has walked away distracted by a costume. “Hello! That was our touching reconciliation moment there” He shouts to her but she keeps walking over to a frilly, red, billowy 18th-century gown.

“I'm sorry, it's just... Look at this” Buffy says completely mesmerized by the beautiful gown which looked eerily similar to the one we saw in the Watchers Diary today “It's amazing” Willow agrees as we all look at the dress “Too bulky. I prefer my women in spandex” I smack Xander on the arm as he laughs.

The store owner comes over to us when he sees us all standing by the dress “Please, let me” he says as he takes the dress off of its dressmaker's mannequin “Oh, i-it's...” Buffy stutters as she looks at the dress “Magnificent. Yes, I know. There”.

He holds it up to Buffy in the mirror “My. Meet the hidden princess. I think we found a match. Don't you?” He says smiling at Buffy “Oh, uh, I-I'm sorry. There's no way I could ever afford this” Buffy says sadly but he just smiles.

“Oh, nonsense. I feel quite moved to make you a deal you can't refuse” He tells Buffy with a wide smile, Buffy looks back into the mirror, takes the dress from him and smiles dreamily as she holds it up to her chin.


	15. Unhappy Halloween?

**-Spike's warehouse-**

Spike sits and watches a video that a vampire took of Buffy and Nikki's fight at the Bronze. “Here it comes, rewind that. Let's see that again” Another vampire rewinds the tape as Spikes strolls around to another monitor.

He watches the scene where the vampire flies into the wall without anyone touching him, Buffy looks at Nikki and nods in thanks, Spike chuckles “She's tricky. Baby likes to play” he grins as he looks at Nikki who lay on the floor in the tape.

The next scene where Buffy stakes the vampire with the sign plays “You see that? The way she stakes him with that thing? That's what's called resourceful” he shouts in excitement as he watches the two sister slayers fight.

Drusilla comes from the other room “Miss Edith needs her tea” She mutters slowly as all eyes turn to her “C'mere, poodle” Spike says holding his hand out to her, Drusilla takes his hand “Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?” She asks dreamily swaying slightly.

Spike smiles as his strange lover “Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet. That's why I've got to study this Slayer. Once I know her I can kill her. And once I kill her you can have your run of Sunnyhell. Get strong again” Spike says pointing to the screen where Buffy was frozen on.

“What about that one spikey?” Drusilla says pointing to another screen where Nikki was frozen on, Spike smiles and sucks his teeth “I've got a special plan for that one”

Drusilla smiles deviously “Don't worry. Everything's switching. Outside to inside. It makes her weak” Spike's ears perk up as Drusilla points to Buffy's picture “Really? Did my pet have a vision?”

Drusilla walks around dreamily “Do you know what I miss? Leeches” Spike smiles but still, his patience wears thin “Come on, talk to Daddy. This thing that makes the Slayer weak? When is it?”

Drusilla stops walking and looks at spike seriously “tonight” Spike raises a perfect blonde eyebrow “Tonight's Halloween. Nothing happens on Halloween” Drusilla smiles and walks over to Spike and whispers “Someone's come to change it all. Someone new.”

* * *

 

**-Ethan's Costume Shop-**

Ethan comes through the curtain and kneels before his statue of Janus. He presses his hands together and winces in pain. When he pulls them apart there are wounds in his palms, and blood flows freely from them.

“The world that denies thee, thou inhabit”

He dabs the blood from his left hand with his right middle finger and   
smears it over his right eyelid.

“The peace that ignores thee,...”

He dabs the blood from his right hand with his left middle finger and   
smears it over his left eyelid.

“...thou corrupt”

He dabs the blood from his left hand with his right middle finger again and smears a cross onto his forehead.

“Chaos. I remain, as ever, thy faithful, degenerate son”

Ethan looks over at his the statue from the woman's face on one side to the man's face on the other and smirks devilishly.

* * *

 

**-Summer's Residence-**

I was stood in Buffy's room doing my makeup as Willow got into her costume “So you went with a vampire?” Buffy asked looking at me with an amused smile, I laughed and nodded “Thought I'd go ironic this year” I told her as I smoothed out the back of my dress.

I looked at Buffy as she looks at herself in the long mirror wearing her gown and a long, black wig she puts on the second of a pair of earrings “You look beautiful Buff” She turns to me and smiles genuinely “Thanks”.

“Where're you meeting Angel?” Willow asks from the bathroom that connects mine and Buffy's room “Here. After trick-or-treating. Mom's gonna be out” Buffy calls back to her as she plays with her hair.

“Does he know about your costume?” Willow shouts again, I look at myself in the mirror happy with my work as I tied the laces on my boots “Nope. Call it a blast from his past. I'll show him I can coif with the best of 'em” Buffy says happily as she smooths out her dress.

Putting my makeup away I turn to the bathroom door “Okay, Willow, come out. You can't hide in there all night” I say knocking on the door with a stern voice “O-okay, but, but promise you won't laugh?” Willow asks with a shaky voice “We promise” Buffy and I say in unison.

Willow opens the door and comes out wearing boots, a short, black leather skirt and a burgundy, long-sleeved, V-necked, midriff-baring top “Wow! You're a dish!” Buffy tells Willow who just looks uncomfortable.

Willow quickly steps over to her ghost sheet and picks it up and tries to hide herself with the sheet but I take it from her and tosses it aside “ we mean it, really” I tell her with a comforting smile.

Willow still looks very uncomfortable and tries to cover herself with her arms “But this just isn't me” Willow whispers to us looking upset “And that's the point” Buffy walks around Willow to show her the mirror “Look, Halloween is the night that not you is you, but not you. Y'know?”

The doorbell rings “Oh! That's Xander. Are you ready?” I ask her excitedly knowing that she likes Xander but won't admit it “Yeah. O-o-okay” She stutters with her arms still wrapped around herself “Cool! I can't wait for the boys to go non-verbal when they see you!” Buffy squeals as we run to the door.

Buffy opens the door for Xander who enters saluting with his toy rifle in his hand “Private Harris reporting for...” Xander sees us in our costumes “Wow I am in awe! I completely renounce spandex!”

We giggle as Xander smiles at us “Really Nikki a vampire?” he asks looking at my costume that I picked up from Ethan's costume shop “Yep the irony is strong with this costume” Xander laughs along with me “But wait till you see...”

We all turn to look up the stairs at Willow. She has put on the ghost sheet. It says 'BOO!' on the front in large bold letters “Hi” Willow waves at Xander “...Casper”

“Hey, Will! That's a fine boo you got there” Xander says looking at Willow, Buffy and I just look at each other disappointed.

* * *

 

Getting to school I notice children are arriving in costume to be taken trick-or-treating. I grab my clipboard and wait for the kids I'll be lugging around. I see Snyder bringing a group to Buffy.

“This is your group, Summers. No need to speak to them. The last thing they need is your influence. Just bring them back in one piece and I won't expel you” Snyder starts to leave and Buffy bends down to the kids “Hi” Snyder turns to Buffy and shakes his finger “Ah, ah!” Buffy straightens back up and rolls her eyes.

Snickering at Buffy I jump when I see Snyder is stood in front of me with a gang of wonderful children “Summers! I don't know what you think is so funny but here is your group” I look down to see the kids all looking at me with their buckets in hand.

“Like I told your sister there's no need to talk to them, just get them candy and then bring them back in one piece! Understood?” I nodded with a fake smile “That sounds great Sir” I muttered as Snyder just looked at me sternly before walking away “Urghh” I saw all the kids looking at me questioningly “Come on” I say walking off.

* * *

 

Standing outside a house I see kids running around and sigh “Okay everyone get in, get the candy and get out, the quicker we get the candy from the house the more candy you get, okay?” I say to the kids who all nod and run to the door leaving me waiting by the gate.

Looking around I couldn't help but feel like something was up, I looked around trying to see if I could find Buffy but no luck. Seeing the kids coming back I sigh “Ok next house let's move” I call walking off not being able to shake off that bad feeling.

After hitting a few more houses I still didn't feel any better “Right last house we still have a few more minutes before I need to get you back” the kids all run off again leaving me rolling my eyes with a small smile.

One of the kids wearing a green monster mask on his head rings the bell and steps back. An old lady answers the door. The kid with the mask pulls it down over his face “Trick-or-treat!” I heard them shout I smiled when the old lady played along.

Feeling a strong wind I shivered “Geez it's cold” I said crossing my arms waiting for the kids to get their candy looking back to the house my stomach drops the kid wearing a red rubber cap with horns morphs into a horned, red-skinned monster.

“What the hell!” I whisper to myself as the kid with the green mask has changed into a monster also, and grabs the lady by the neck and begins to choke her. The other kids scream and run away in fear.

“Hey! Let her go!” I shout before bending over in pain as something begins to take over me, holding on to the old lady's gate I cry in pain again and fall to the ground as I feel every last breath leave me.

Laying on the pavement I stared up at the stars as my heartbeat began to slow down until it stopped completely as I let out one last final breath.


	16. Nikki The Vampire Not Slayer?

Sitting up I groaned and pulled myself up to standing and I looked around “Where the hell am I?” I call out loud seeing horned devils and monsters running around, I laughed seeing the neighborhood in total chaos “now that's what I'm talking about”.

Smiling I licked my fangs and continued to slink down the road seeing if I can find any humans to sink my teeth into “Nikki?” I heard a voice shout but I continued walking “Nikki?” the voice asked again and I saw a girl ghost standing in front of me.

“Nikki? Oh my god” the girl screams at me “You're a vampire?” she says looking at me with her hands on her mouth “I am” I purr and begin to strut away from the redhead ghost “Nikki it's me Willow”.

Turning to look at this 'Willow' I nodded and smiled again “good for you” I told her smiling with my fangs out “Don't you remember me?” shaking my head I looked at her confused “Do you remember anything?” looking down silently I shook my head again.

“All I know is I'm hungry,” I told her with a devious smile as I looked around again dying for some blood “Oh no, come on we have to find Buffy” I looked at Willow with a raised eyebrow but nodded following her maybe this Buffy would be tasty?.

“So whose this Buffy?” I questioned her looking at my long red nails, Willow looked back at me before looking away “Nikki do you think you could...” I looked at her confused until she pointed to my face “Ohh” I smirked deviously and lost my game face making Willow smile happily “Thanks” she said leading me to 'Buffy' “No problem Red” I purred as I followed her again listening as my heels clicked on the floor.

Willow flinches when gunfire starts to boom we turn to look back onto the street to where an army man stood firing his weapon, I raise my eyebrow wondering how he tasted “Xander?” The ghost calls again running out into the street and comes up behind him. “Xander!”.

'Xander' spins around and points his gun at her “It's me, Willow!” Xander looks at Willow confused “I don't know any Willow” he tells her seriously as she looks at him hurt and upset “Xander, quit messing around. This is no time for jokes” Willow stutters quietly her face still looking upset.

“What the hell's going on here?” Xander asks me obviously thinking he's getting nowhere with Willow “You don't know me?” Willow asks looking like she was going to cry, Xander moves the rifle away from her and looks at us “Ladies I suggest you find cover.” I roll my eyes at his macho man shtick.

Xander begins to walk away from us when Willow run in front of him “No, wait!” she calls as Xander walks right through her. They're both surprised as I begin to giggle at their faces “Oh” Willow says looking down at herself probably remembering she's a ghost.

Xander turns around and points his weapon at her again, I growl at him with my game face on making him step back in fear “What are you?” he asks holding his gun up to me now making me growl again in anger “Nikki no!” Willow shouts at me as I'm about to pounce, sighing I turn my game face back off “You're no fun” I whisper to her as I twirled a piece of her hair threateningly.

“Xander, listen to me. I'm on your side, I swear! Something crazy is happening. I was dressed as a ghost for Halloween, a-and now I am a ghost. And you were supposed to be a soldier, and now I, I-I guess you're a real soldier and look Nikki dressed like a vampire and now she is one!” Willow cried out as I huff standing by her side.

Xander looked at me unbelieving “Sup” I drawl out getting bored as I started to look at my sharp fingernails “You expect me to believe that?” Xander shouts at Willow like he doesn't believe her, a monster appears across the street, growling Xander points his rifle at it but it runs away.

Willow jumps in front of him “No! No guns! That's still a little kid in there!” she screams as Xander begins to point his gun at the monsters “Step out of the way!” he tells Willow aggressively making me growl under my breath again this attitude of his is going to get him drained.

“No guns! That's an order!” Willow tells Xander strongly, He lowers the rifle and nods looking at Willow “We just need to find... Buffy!” Willow runs across the street to a very scared girl in a dress, Xander and I looked at each other before following the ghost again.

“Buffy! Are you okay?” Willow asks the terrified girl who just looks at us as she cowers, the monster from before is back with a friend and they both roar as they approach us. Xander picks up his M-16 again and takes aim “This could be a situation” he says as the monsters continue to approach.

“Buffy, what do we do?” Willow asks Buffy who just looks at us and faints falling to the ground “Well this is spectacular” I told Willow sarcastically who continued to look down at Buffy in concern.

Xander fires off a couple dozen rounds at the approaching monsters but they turn and run away fearing Xander. Willow kneels beside Buffy who I propped up against a tree “Buffy, are you alright?” Buffy looks up at Willow confused and a little dazed “What?” she asks sounding very delicate.

“Are you hurt?” I ask her slowly like she was dumb, Willow tries to nudge my arm but it goes straight through me so she opts for a look “Buffy, are you hurt?” Willow asks Buffy again but nicer than I did.

Buffy sits up with her hand on her head “Buffy?” she says out loud as if that wasn't her name, I looked at Willow confused I thought she said this girl was Buffy “She's not Buffy” Willow tells us looking worried.

“Who's Buffy?” Xander asks standing by us and I nod to his question, Willow sighs to herself “Oh, this is fun. What year is this?” Xander takes Buffy's hand and helps her up “1775, I believe” Buffy answered confused and hyperventilating.

“I-I don't understand. Who are you?” Buffy asks us brushing dirt off her dress “We're friends and Nikki is your sister” Willow says pointing to me, Buffy and I look at each other in scrutiny, Sisters?

Buffy shakes her head and stutters “F-friends of whom? And sister? But Y-your dress... Everything is strange! How did I come to be here?” I frown at her and look down to my dress, fishnets, and leather black boots and shrug I look good.

“Breathe, okay, breathe. You're gonna faint again” Willow says to Buffy who nods but still continues to breathe heavily, Willow turns to Xander “How are we supposed to get through this without the Slayers?”.

Xander and I look at Willow confused “What's a Slayer?” A monster comes around the tree behind Buffy and roars, fangs bared and claws raised to attack Buffy screams and backs off, I instinctively jump up and send a flying kick across the monsters face knocking it down and out.

Turning I look at Willow who is smiling at me with hope “I suggest we get inside before we come across anything...” Xander says before Buffy starts screaming “A DEMON! A DEMON! A DEMON!”.

I sigh when Buffy hides behind me gripping my shoulders tightly “That's not a demon. It's a car” I growl at her getting sick of her girlishness.

“What does it want?” Buffy asks still cowering behind me if she wasn't my sister I would have drained her already “Is this woman insane?” Xander whispers to Willow and I “She's never seen a car” I defended although I have no idea how a sister of mine had never seen a car before.

“She's never seen a car?” Xander repeats in disbelief “She's from the past” Willow told him as we stood together looking for more monsters “And you're a ghost and she's a vampire?” Xander asks as he gives me a nervous look.

“Yes! Now let's get inside” Willow tells Xander sounding tired of his questions “I just want you to know that I'm taking a lot on faith here. Where do we go?” Xander inquires as we all look around but nothing seems familiar to me.

“Where's the closest?” Willow asks before looking at me and smiling “Let's go” following Willow I had my arms around Buffy who was still shaking I could feel my throat tighten as I heard her heart pumping blood around her body.

Coughing to clear my throat I noticed we've come to a house “Is this safe?” I asked Willow as Buffy trembled in my arms. Willow nodded as Xander opened the door and scanned the rooms “All clear!” he calls to us, nodding we begin to walk into the house.

“Hello? Mrs. Summers?” Willow calls but no one answers “Good, she's gone” I slam my hands on the door frame as I noticed everyone walk into the house but myself “Uh red, a little help?” I call to her as she turns and notices me at the door.

“Ohh right.. yeah vampire.. right” Willow nods as she stutters before going over to Buffy “Buffy you need to invite Nikki in?” Buffy looks at Willow in confusion but turns to me as I lean my hands on the invisible force field.

“Nikki you are welcome into this abode, although I think it's somewhere someone of a lower class would live my home is vast and wealthy...” Buffy continues as she looks around the room in almost disgust “Please stop talking” I mutter as I walk into the house and looking at the blonde.

Xander closes the door behind me as we all stand in silence before Buffy broke it “Where are we?” Buffy asks quietly from beside me “You and Nikki live here, Now we just need to...” There's a banging at the front door Xander goes to investigate and we follow.

“Don't open it!” Willow calls to Xander who looks at her like she's crazy “Could be a civilian” he retorts, I looked at him with a raised eyebrow “Or a mini demon” I tell him sassily as I cross my arms hoping for a good fight.

Buffy moves from my side and walks to a picture on a table, she turns to me with the picture in her hand “This... this could be us” I took the picture from her to see her and I both smiling with our arms around each other.

“It is you two Buffy, can't you remember at all?” Willow says looking at the picture in my hands but Buffy begins to panic again “No! I, I don't understand any of this! Uh, uh, th... This is some other girl!. I would never wear this, that low apparel, and I don't like this place, and I don't like you, and I just wanna go home!”

I growl as Buffy's whining begins to annoy me I'm sure if I really did have a sister she wouldn't be as whiny as this princess she'd be badass and like leather, studs, and spikes, not frilly dresses “You are home!” Willow shouts at Buffy whose now in tears.

“She couldn't've dressed up like Xena?” Willow mutters to herself as I lean against the wall getting more bored by the second, Xander scans the area outside through one of the small windows in the door. He moves away just as a monster punches through the glass and reaches for him it pulls its hand back as Xander raises his M-16.

“Not a civilian!” Willow screams at Xander “Affirmative!” Xander calls and takes aims through the broken window “Hey! What did we say?!” Willow calls to Xander as he lets loose a mag of bullets as Willow winces at the noise.

Buffy bows her head and covers her ears as Xander rolls away from the door when he's finished “Big noise scare monster, remember?” Willow sighs and nods reluctantly “Got it”.

We hear a girl screaming outside and Xander looks out again “Damn it!” He opens the door and goes out pulling the door closed behind him.

Buffy runs up to Willow and I grabbing my arm “Surely he'll not desert us!” I shake my head not caring before walking off to loot some goods “Whatever”.


	17. Back To Normal

Walking into the living room I jump on the couch and cross my legs getting comfortable as Buffy looks wide-eyed with fear, Willow watches through the window as someone quickly come in through the door.

“Cordelia!” Willow calls to the girl who looks like a cat “Wait a... What's going on?” Cordelia stutters as she looks at us confused “Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends. Well, sort of” Willow tells her quickly.

Cordelia looks at Willow like she's gone crazy “That's nice Willow and you went mental when?” Willow looks at Cordelia confused “You know us?” Cordelia nods slowly “Yeah. Lucky me. What's with the name game?” Cordelia asks looking around at us with a scrunched up face.

Willow sighs heavily but with relief “A lot's going on” Cordelia snorts and nods “No kidding. I was just attacked by Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy. Look at my costume! Do you really think that Partytown's gonna give me my deposit back? Not likely” Cordelia rants as she looks down at her torn costume.

Xander takes his shirt off and puts it around her shoulders “Here” Cordelia looks at Xander with a small smile “Thanks” Willow just shakes her head and sighs “Okay. You guys stay here while I get some help. If something tries to get in, just fight it off”

Nodding I stood and licked my teeth and looked at Cordelia “You'd better hurry... I'm getting hungry” Cordelia looked at me confused as I smiled deviously at her “Well, i-it's not our place to fight. Uh, surely some men will protect us” Buffy stutters to Willow as she sits in the corner.

“What's that riff?” Cordelia asks Willow as Buffy begins to shake again “I-it's like amnesia, okay? They don't know who they are. Just sit tight” Cordelia scoffs at Willow “Who died and made her the boss?” Willow walks through the wall behind Cordelia, she and Buffy stare in wide-eyed amazement.

Xander brings a chair over from the dining room “You! Check upstairs. Make sure everything's locked up” Xander calls to Cordelia as he positions the chair to help hold the table he's placed against the window.

“Surely there's somewhere we can go... a safe haven?” Buffy asks Xander who turns to her with his hands out and gun on his shoulder “Lady said to stay put” Buffy looks perplexed and offended “You would take orders from a woman? A-are you feeble in some way?”.

Xander sighs “Ma'am, in the Army we have a saying: sit down and shut the...” Xander stops and picks up a picture off the floor “Whoa!” he says and I look over his shoulder and see it's a picture of the four of us.

Xander looks at me and jumps when he realizes how close I am to his neck he smiles at me but steps away giving me a nod “She must be right. We must have some kind of amnesia” Xander says aloud making Buffy gasp at him and pulls her arms to herself “I don't know what that is, but I'm certain I don't have it. I bathe quite often!”.

“How do you explain this?” Xander says showing Buffy the picture but she didn't look she just continued to ramble “I don't! I was brought up a proper lady. I-I wasn't meant to understand things. I'm just meant to look pretty, and then someone nice will marry me... possibly a Baron”.

I looked down at Buffy with a look of disgust “Now that's just sad” I mutter she was living her life for other people and she didn't seem very happy either. “This ain't no tea party, princess. Sooner or later you're gonna have to fight!” I told Buffy who looked at me incredulously.

“Fight these low creatures? I'd sooner die” Buffy said snottily as she crossed her arms in front of her, I stepped closer to her with a dangerous look “Then you'll die” I whisper to her as her eyes widened in fear.

“Oh, good! You guys are alright. It's total chaos out there” A tall dark head man says looking at us in relief “Who are you?” We all ask in unison as the man looks at us “It's me, Angel...Okay, somebody wanna fill me in?” he asks us in a monotone voice with a brooding face.

“Do you live here?” Xander asks and I see his hand inches from his gun “No, and you know that. Buffy, I'm lost here. You...” Angel turns to look at Buffy who was shaking with her arms wrapped around herself again “What's up with your hair?” Xander and I look at Buffy and this man 'Angel'.

“They don't know who they are; everyone's turned into a monster, it's a whole big thing,” Cordelia says as she stands next to Buffy and smiles at the man flirtatiously “How are you?” I roll my eyes and suck on my teeth again getting hungrier.

The lights go out and Buffy grabs Cordelia in fright “Do you mind?” Buffy quickly lets go of her and grabs me instead making me growl in annoyance “You take the princess and vampire and secure the kitchen. Catwoman, you're with me” Xander orders and we all nod.

Cordelia follows Xander as Angel heads for the kitchen “But I don't wanna go with you! I-I like the man with the musket!” Angel takes Buffy's arm gently “C'mon” Buffy looks up at Angel innocently “Do you have a musket?”.

Angel just smiles at her but turns to me quickly “Wait did Xander say you were a vampire” Angel says looking at me, I nod and looked at the door which was open “you could've shut that behind you” I tell him annoyed but he just looks at me confused “I didn't leave that open”.

He quietly moves toward the door as he looks around for an intruder seeing nothing he closes the door I see the basement door behind Buffy opens “Hey!” I shout when a vampire attacks her, Buffy screams as she tries to push the door closed on him.

Angel grabs the vampire and wrestles him to the floor “A stake!” I start looking around for something sharp and pointy “A what?” Buffy asks looking at Angel “Get me a stake!” Angel shouts again as the vampire tries to bite him.

Buffy helps me looks around and grabs a knife she sees on the counter “Hurry up!” Angel calls he turns to look what's keeping us and has his game face on. Buffy screams at the top of her lungs she runs for the door “Buffy, no!” he screams after her.

Looking between Angel and Buffy I run out of the door hoping I can stop Buffy from getting hurt or killed, looking around I had no idea where she was and at this point, she could be anywhere. Stopping I close my eyes and focus I could hear shouting from everywhere but not Buffy.

Opening my eyes I suddenly heard a scream I ran down a dark alleyway and see a pirate grabbing Buffy “Hey! Get away from her!” I shout grabbing the pirate and throwing him away from Buffy and into the wall.

Xander comes running and tackles the pirate down to the pavement, He gets up and pulls the pirate up and into a metal warehouse door. He punches him in the face and gut but the pirate pushes him off and into the opposite alley wall and punches him back in the gut. Xander grabs the pirate's arm and pulls it behind his back, forcing him to bend over, and knees him in the stomach.

Cordelia arrives behind us with the other man “Buffy! Are you okay?” she asks looking at Buffy who yelps and cowers behind a box when she see's Angel who I now know is also a vampire like me “What's your deal? Take a pill!” Cordelia says to Buffy as Xander and the pirate continues to fight “He's, he's a vampire!” Buffy tells Cordelia who just rolls her eyes and turns to Angel “She's got this thing where she thinks Uhhh, forget it”.

Cordelia turns to Buffy and smiles falsely “It's okay. Angel is a good vampire. He would never hurt you” Buffy stands up slowly “Really?” Buffy asks looking at me and Cordelia “Absolutely. He's our friend” I just nod at Buffy when she looks at me fear evident on her face.

Xander turns to us after beating the pirate “It's strange, but beating up that pirate gave me a weird sense of closure” Willow comes running down the alley from the other end “Guys!” she calls to us and makes a gesture to us.

“Willow!” Angel calls back to Willow with a happy smile “Guys, you gotta get inside” Willow looks back and she sees a blonde man and his monster gang coming.“We need a triage!” Xander shouts to us when we see a group of men heading for us.

“This way! Find an open warehouse” Angel shouts, Xander turns and picks up his rifle “Ladies, we're on the move!” He quickly heads down the alley with Me, Cordelia and Willow following him, Angel lifts Buffy and carries her.

Angel is now leading us and finds an open warehouse “Over here!” Xander pushes the door aside, and we all hurry in “Check if there are any other ways in!” He slides the door closed again as Angel sets Buffy back down on her feet next to me “Just stay here with your sister” he tells Buffy and gives me a look that I knew was 'look after her'.

The monsters arrive and start pounding on the door from outside, Xander picks up a large grate and sets it in front of the door on top of some barrels he's already moved into place. Buffy moves closer to me and grabs hold of my arm tightly “I'm scared” she whispers to me whimpering, I look at her scared face with a frown “I'm here”.

Buffy just grips me tighter as Xander picks up another grate and sets it behind the first one as the monsters get the door open, they pound against it as Xander tries to hold it in place. “GOOOOO!” Xander shouts at us struggling against the monsters.

Not needing to be told again I grabbed Buffy's hand and ran with the others following us, I turn to see Xander follow when he can no longer hold the grating against the monsters but the monsters soon catch up to us and they grab Angel and Xander.

Feeling Buffy's grip loosen on my mine I look around but I'm pushed forward by Cordelia who runs past me and hides behind some crates. Hiding in the shadows I watch as a good looking blonde man finds Buffy and begins to taunt her as she backs away, trembling “Look at you. Shaking. Terrified. Alone. Lost little lamb” I feel my face shift in anger as the blonde vampire taunts my scared sister, my fangs biting my lip.

Coming out of the shadows I stand between the blonde man and Buffy “Get away from her” I growl at him as the blonde man's face lights up in excitement “Well looky here the baby Slayer has turned vampire”.

He walks forward to me as his game face shifts back into his normal face as he looks me up and down appreciatively, he lifts up his hand and runs it down my face “ This day just gets better and better” he laughs but stops when he sees my sister has curled up against me “But I've got business to attend to”.

The blonde man walks forward but I push him back with a low growl “You're not touching her” I told the blonde man standing tall in front of my sister whose tears were now soaking into my dress, the blonde man laughs before picking me up and throwing me over to the monsters who held me in place “Buffy” I shout fighting against them but there were too many.

Buffy backed up against a crate and couldn't go any further, The blonde man slaps her across the face with the back of his hand making me roar at him “Don't worry sweetheart I'll get to you next” he said looking at me with a smirk. A handsome smirk.

I look over to see Angel as he struggles with the two monsters holding him “Buffy” he shouts trying to get to my sister who is now crying in fear, the blonde man puts his left hand around her throat and grabs Buffy's hair and closes in for the bite.

Xander gets free of the monsters and punches one in the face, the other in the gut, and then shoves the second monster into the first. The blonde man closes in on Buffy as Xander turns his attention to Spike “Now that guy you can shoot” Willow whispers to Xander who grabs his gun.

Xander shoulders his toy rifle “What the...” I look around and feel my face no lumps or bumps, The monsters have all turned back into children and student escorts. The kids are frightened, and begin to cry and complain “I'm scared! I want my mommy!”.

Spike looks back at them and straightens up, he pulls on Buffy's hair to pull her up only to find he has a wig in his hands. He looks at Buffy as she gets up off of the crate and smiles at him. “Hi, honey. I'm home”

She punches him in the gut, twice in the face, and kicks him in the chest, making him stagger back into a set of mobile stairs. He grabs a length of pipe that's leaning there and swings it at her, she catches the end of it and pulls him around and into the crate he had her against. Buffy uses the pipe like a quarterstaff and swings it into his jaw and jabs him in the stomach making him double over in pain.

“You know what? It's good to be me” Buffy says looking at me I smile as I look over a doubled over Spike and throw my arm up and watch happily as Spike flies back onto the crate, then slides off onto the floor “Yeah I'm never going to moan about my telekinesis again” I told them as we all laugh.

We watch as Spike gets up and growls at Buffy and pausing to look at me before making a hasty retreat. Buffy drops the pipe and turns to us as we all walk over to Buffy smiling “Hey, Buff. Welcome back” Xander says as we all hug each other “Yeah! You, too” Buffy tells us with a smile.

“You guys remember what happened? Cordelia asks as we all look at each other and nod “It was way creepy. It's like I was there, but I couldn't get out” we all nod again until Cordelia laughs “Yeah, I know the feeling. This outfit's totally skintight”.  
  
I rolled my eyes at Cordelia “It was so weird I was hungry like all the time” I looked at Angel and stepped closer to Xander now knowing how much vampires really think about blood “I'm really happy to not be a vampire” I muttered to him as he nodded in agreement as he puts his arm around my shoulder.

Buffy looks up at Angel as he comes over to Buffy “You okay?” he asks her with those brooding eyes “Yeah” Angel puts his arm around her shoulders and leads her away, Cordelia looks at the couple exasperated “Hello?! It felt like I was talking, my lips were moving and...”

Xander shakes his head “Give it up, Cordy. You're never gonna get between those two. Believe me, I know” I smiled and nodded in agreement as I lean my head on Xander's shoulder “Well, I guess you better get them back to their parents” I looked over at my group of kids who were either crying or eating candy. “Yeah, everybody seems to... Where's Willow?”.


	18. Billy Fordham

Buffy and I are patrolling together and after the 'fun' we had last week on Halloween I appreciate being the Slayer with a crazy power a lot more now.

Walking to the edge of the roof we were standing on Buffy followed my lead we were starting to trust each other's instincts a lot more now.

I heard Buffy gasp when she sees Angel and a pale woman standing closely together, the woman puts her hand on Angel's chest I look to the right seeing Buffy stalk closer to the vampires I follow her “This can't go on, Drusilla. It's gotta end” Angel says as 'Drusilla' tilts her head and reaches up for a kiss.

“Oh, no, my pet. This is just the beginning” She pulls away without kissing Angel and gives him an evil smile, she keeps her head turned to him as she slowly backs away.

I hear Buffy breathe hard at what she sees we watch as Angel eyes Drusilla go for another moment, then turns to leave also.

Buffy steps away from the edge of the roof and runs off without a word, I turn to watch Angel stalk away from the playground he and Drusilla were stood in “I've got my eyes on you” I growl before running to catch up with my sister.

* * *

 

Sitting in History class Buffy was writing notes to Willow about the Angel/Drusilla thing as the teacher was talking about history stuff, I looked up to see the class talking about different things “Well, it seems like Louis XVI was just sort of a weak king” a boy in the front row said to the teacher who nodded.

“That's fair enough. Uh, any other impressions?” Cordelia who was sitting in front of Buffy put her hand up Xander looks over at Cordelia with his head propped up on his fist.

“I just don't see why everyone's always picking on Marie Antoinette. I can so relate to her. She worked really hard to look that good, and people just don't appreciate that kind of effort and I know the peasants were all depressed...”

A few of us snorted with laughter “I think you mean 'oppressed'” Xander said pitching in “Whatever. They were cranky. So they're, like, 'Let's lose some heads'. Uhhh! That's fair. And, and Marie Antoinette cared about them. She was gonna let them have cake!”

The teacher stared at Cordelia with a small smile “um, would anyone else like to comment?” everyone shook their heads probably still reeling from how Cordelia managed to make Marie Antoinette's death all about her.

The bell rings and we all grab our stuff and practically ran out of the door “I don't know. I don't think so. They seemed pretty friendly” Buffy says to Willow making Xander look at her confused as I sighed knowing that Buffy had been up all night thinking about Angel.

“Who's friendly?” Xander asked looking at us “No one” Buffy mutters with her arms around her waist giving me a sad smile “Angel and a girl” Willow tells Xander who smiles “Willow, do we have to be in total share mode?” Buffy says to Willow as we walk to the lounge.

“Hey, it's me. If Angel's doing somethin' wrong, I wanna know 'Cause it gives me a happy!” Xander says to Buffy making her frown and I gave him a look “Mm, I'm glad someone has a happy” Buffy says sitting one of the couches.

I sat down next to Buffy and she put her head on my shoulder as I lean my head on hers just like when we were kids “Aw, you just need cheering up. And I know just the thing!” Xander stands in front of us and does a weird dance move making me smirk.

“Crazed dance party at the Bronze!”Buffy shrugs her shoulder “I dunno” Sitting back she crosses her arms looking very upset “Very calm dance party at the Bronze?” Xander says until Buffy gives him a glum look “Moping at the Bronze?”.

Xander sits on a couch next to Willow “I'd suggest a box of Oreos dunked in apple juice, but maybe she's over that phase” Buffy and I stand looking behind us “Ford?” we ask in unison as Ford smiles at us with a short nod.

“Hey, Summers! Wow, both Summers'” Buffy and I hug Ford “How ya been?” Ford asks us and we smile and nod at him “Oh, my God! What are you doing here?” Buffy asks him as Ford hugs her “Uh, matriculating”

“Huh?” Buffy asks confused as I sit on the arm of the couch “I'm finishing out my senior year at Sunnydale High. Dad got transferred” Buffy and I both smile at Ford happily “That's great,” I say with a smile “I'm glad you think so”.

“I didn't think you'd remember me,” Ford said looking at Buffy as I laughed a little knowing how into him Buffy was back in the day “Remember you? Duh! We only went to school together for seven years. You were my giant fifth-grade crush” I smiled when Buffy blushed bright red with a nervous smile.

Ford turned to me his eyes full of something I couldn't comprehend “Nikki it's good to see you again” I shrugged my shoulders with a smirk “How's the science lab look?” Ford smirked at me and put his hands on my shoulder “you're a legend back in LA”.

I looked at Buffy with a smirk “Nice” I grinned as Xander coughs and interrupts us “So! You three know each other” We all nod before Buffy realizes “Oh! I'm sorry. Um, this is Ford! Uh, Billy Fordham, this is Xander and Willow!”.

Buffy sits back on the couch and Ford follows and sits in the spot I had been in as Willow and Xander say hey. “Uh, Ford, Nikki and I went to Hemery together in L.A,” Buffy says to Willow and Xander before looking back at Ford “And now you're here. For real?” Buffy asks like she was dreaming and this wasn't real.

Ford nodded at Buffy with a grin “Dad got the transfer, and boom, he just dragged me outta Hemery and put me down here” Buffy squeals in happiness “This is great! Well, I mean, it's hard, sudden move, all your friends, delicate time, very emotional, but let's talk about me!” Buffy puts her hands on Ford's knee “This is great!”.

Willow smiles looking at Buffy and Ford “So, you two were sweeties in fifth grade?” Willow questions as I smiled and shook my head “Not even. Ford wouldn't give her the time of day” Buffy blushes again but manages to send me a glare over Ford's shoulder.

“Well, I was a manly sixth-grader. I couldn't bother with someone that young” he said laughing as Buffy pouted “It was terrible. I moped over you for months. Sitting in my room listening to that Divinyls song 'I Touch Myself'”.

We all looked at Buffy wide eyes as Buffy turns bright red when she realizes how what she just said could be taken and casts a nervous look at Xander and Willow “Of course, I had no idea what it was about”.

Ford nervously scratches his temple with his finger, Xander just smiles and nods “Of course you didn't” I say loudly with a giant smile on my face making my sisters face turn a brighter red if that was even possible she looked like she was going to die from embarrassment which would be funny the only Slayer in existence to not die from anything vampire related.

Buffy looks at Ford “Hey, are you busy tonight? We're going to the Bronze, it's the local club, and you have to come” I squint when I realize how much Buffy is sounding like Cordelia ever since Ford turned up.

Ford smiles widely as he looked at us “I'd love to! But if you guys already had plans... Would I be imposing?” Buffy, Willow and I shake our head quickly as Xander muttered to himself “No, only in the literal sense”.

“Okay, then! I, I gotta find the admissions office, uh, get my papers in order” Ford says standing up and smiling at us “Well, you know what, I'll take you there, and I'll see you guys in French!” Buffy says taking Ford's arm and waving to us.

“It was good to meet you,” Ford says to Xander and Willow before smiling at me “See ya Nikki” I just nod as Buffy pulls him away by his arm. Xander smiles at them until they've gone, next to him Willow has a thoughtful look on her face.

Xander's smile drops off his face as soon as Buffy is out of view “This is Ford, my bestest friend of all my friends! Jeez, doesn't she know any fat guys?” He says sarcastically, I smile and rub his arm his crush on Buffy was painful to watch Willow gasps next to us “Oh, that's what that song is about?!”.

* * *

 

Buffy and I walk into the Bronze “So... Ford?” I say to Buffy but she just looks at me with a small smile on her face “I have no idea what you're insinuating” I laugh at her “sure you don't” I say with a raised eyebrow but she just ignores me and carries on through the door.

I sigh and look around before following her with a bad feeling sitting in my stomach Xander, Willow, and Ford are playing pool, Ford is setting up for another as we make it to the table “Ford! You made it.” Buffy says happily as Ford shrugged “Wasn't hard to find”.

“Ford was just telling us about the ninth grade beauty contest, and the, uh, swimsuit competition,” Willow says smiling at me and Buffy, my face dropped and I looked at Ford “What did I ever do to you?” I say making him laugh and put his hands up in self-defense as I glare at him.

Buffy smiled and laughs too “Oh, my God, Ford, stop that! The more people you tell, the more people I have to kill” Ford smirks at Buffy “You can't touch me, Summers. I know all your darkest secrets”

I grimace but turn it into a smile when Ford smiles at me “Care to make a small wager on that?” Xander says making me glare and nudge him “I'm gonna go get a drink. Ford, try not to talk.” Ford laughs as Buffy walks off.

I help Ford rack the table up, he looks up to see Buffy with Angel “That's Angel.” I tell him as he continues to stare at the couple “He's Buffy's beau. Her special friend” Xander says taunting Ford who looks at us.

“He's not in school, right? He looks older than her” Willow and I looked at each other with our mouth opening and closing not knowing what to say “You're not wrong” Xander tells him with a laugh until he sees mine and Willows death glare.

“Didn't want that soda after all?” Ford says and I look up to see Buffy walking over to us with an annoyed look on her face “Not thirsty” she muttered rolling her eyes as Angel trailed behind her they had obviously had a fight of some kind.

“Hey, Angel” Willow says with a little wave, Angel smiles back at Willow because nobody can ignore Will she's too nice “Hi,” Ford says deadpan as he stares at Angel, Buffy turns to Angel “This is Ford. We went to school together in L.A”.

Angel nods and holds his hand out “Nice to meet you” Ford shakes Angel's hand but pulls back quickly “Whoa! Cold hands!” Xander laughs a little “You're not wrong” he says again but stops knowing everyone was giving him a look “There's something wrong with you” I whisper to him as he nods and smiles at me.

“So, you're here visiting Buffy?” Angel says looking at Ford and Buffy suspiciously “No, I'm actually here to stay. Just moved down” Ford says almost smugly when Angel nods slowly, silence dropped on us as we all looked at each other awkwardly but Angel's eyes never left Ford.

“Hey, Angel? Do you wanna play?” Willow asks the vampire pointing to the pool table relieving the tension “Y'know, it's getting really crowded in here tonight. Um... I'm a little hot. You wanna take a walk?” Buffy says looking a Ford making Angel's eyebrows shoot up obviously just as surprised as us.

“Um, sure! That'd be nice” Ford nodded put the pool cue down “Okay, then, um...I'll see ya tomorrow” Buffy says leading Ford out of the Bronze leaving us all shocked and the atmosphere awkward “Good night”Angel mutters watching Buffy go.

“Okay, once more with tension” Xander mutters as he rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet, Angel looks at me with that brooding look “He just moved here?”.

Nodding I leaned against the table “Yep his dad got a transfer but...” Angel looks at me “But?” he asks looking down at me, silently asking me to tell him.

I sighed heavily looking over to the door before running my hand through my hair my eyes meeting Angel's once more “I'm not sure something just seems off with him, like he's all Buffy and before he didn't even acknowledge her existence” Angel looked at me seriously before looking at the door where Buffy left.

“Well, Angel, we could still play,” Willow said happily, I turned and helped her move the rack into position, and when we look back up Angel is gone.

See, you made him do that thing where he's gone” Willow says to me and Xander, I shrug and get ready to break. Something was wrong I just know it.


	19. Giles The Watcher

Getting home I sighed and run upstairs to take off my makeup and get into my comfy pj's, knocking on Buffy's door I open it to find her talking on the phone, she notices me and waves me in “Ok talk to you tomorrow Will”,

Walking over to the bed and sat on the end of it waiting for Buffy to put the phone down “So how was your walk with Ford?” I asked her when she finally looked over at me, Buffy smiled and crossed her legs mirroring me.

“He knows,” Buffy told me with a gleeful smile, I smiled confused “who knows what?" I asked when she continued to smile “Ford knows we're Slayers” I looked at Buffy dumbstruck as she shook her head and shrugged “Well he knew about me so I told him about you..”,

I blinked at her and let out a harsh breath “Wait! You told Ford I was a Slayer?” I asked her standing and pacing “Well yeah I mean he already knew about me so...” I laughed mockingly.

“So what you thought you'd tell him I'm one too? Did you ever think that wasn't your place Buffy?” I spat as she just looked at me, her mouth gaping.

Growling I walked out of her room and into mine,  I was furious how could she be so reckless, a knock at the window scared the fury right out of me.

Looking out of the window I saw Angel waving back at me, opening the window I let Angel in before moving back and crossing my arms still vexed.

“Are you ok?” he asked me obviously sensing my anger “I'm fine, why?” I muttered as Angel pointed behind me, I turned to see my bed floating above the floor.

I looked back at Angel with a sheepish laugh and set my bed back down “I'm guessing you're not here to see Buffy?”.

Angel shook his head and sat on my bed which was safely back on the ground “I need your help” he says looking up at me, I put my hands in my hips and looked at him suspiciously “With?” I asked sitting next to him on the bed.

“I need to you to watch Ford with Buffy,” He asked looking over to me desperately, I sighed as I looked at Angel through my lashes “If this is about what I said at the Bronze...” Angel shook his head “Willow looked Ford up on the net and he's not even registered at your school”.

Looking down at the floor I frowned “So what does that mean?” Angel stood and walked to the window “It means you were right to be suspicious of him” I looked up at Angel and smiled “So this isn't just you being a jealous brood?”.

Angel laughed and I looked at him wide-eyed I've never heard him laugh before “You know, I never used to, things used to be pretty simple. A hundred years, just hanging out, feelin' guilty... I really honed my brooding skills. Then she comes along. Yeah, I get jealous. But I know people. And my gut tells me this is a wrong guy”.

I nodded at him before looking down at my hands “Yeah he doesn't do much for my spidey senses either” I glanced back up but Angel was gone without a trace “A simple bye would have sufficed” I muttered getting into bed thinking what Ford could be up to.

* * *

  
Walking into school I was looking for Buffy and Ford they had walked together this morning and I hadn't spoken to Buffy since last night which I was still furious about, telling for about her was one thing but telling her about me and my powers was totally wrong.

Looking down the hall I saw Willow walking to the drinking fountain, I was just about to call for her when I heard Buffy's voice ring out in the opposite direction “Willow!” Willow jumped up in a panic when she saw Buffy and Ford.

Walking faster I caught up to Will just as Buffy and Ford got to her “What's up?” Buffy asked Willow looking at her suspiciously “Nothing” Willow stuttered playing with her hands nervously as Buffy avoided me altogether.

“Do you wanna hang? We're cafeteria-bound” Buffy asks Willow with a smile as she stood next to Ford, Willow started to stutter worse which is usually a good sign she was lying or avoiding “I-I-I'm gonna do work in the computer lab on school work that I have, so I cannot hang just now. Hi, Ford”.

Ford smiled and waved at Willow “Morning” Ford then looked at me and I smiled back with a huge fake smile which made him look at me weird “Okay, Will, fess up” Buffy said looking at Willow confused before giving me a side eye.

I looked at Willow as she began to look around nervously “Lay off Buff she probably had too much caffeine again” I said looking at my sister who glanced at me with a small glare then back to Willow “Are you drinking coffee again? 'Cause we've talked about this”.

Willow smiles and laughs out loud “It makes me jumpy. I have to go. Away” I laugh when Willow grabs my arm and practically runs off “You need to work on your lying,” I told her when we get to the computer lab.

Willow sits down in front of the computer “So I'm guessing Angel told you about Ford?” Willow asks as she logs onto the computer in front of her, I nodded and sighed tensing “I knew there was something off about him, I can't believe Buffy told him about me being a Slayer”.

Willow nodded in agreement as she typed, Buffy must have told her on the phone last night “She's in too deep” Willow told me as the bell rang and Ms. Calendar started to talk about coding before looking at me “Nikki do you need something” I looked up to see everyone looking at me.

“Uhh I was just talking to Willow about... something” I said as Willow passes me a note “And now I'll just be going” I say awkwardly backing out of the classroom and over to the library “Who needs to go to Math anyway” I mutter pushing open the doors and walking inside.

“Giles?” I call walking over to the table“ Giles?” I smile when Giles appears out of the stacks with a few books in hand “Oh Nikki I wasn't uh expecting you” I nodded and sat on the table knowing he would have been expecting my sister.

“I know but you're kind of the only watcher I know,” I told him with a small laugh, Giles nodded seriously and put the books he was holding down.

“Oh well yes, so what uh seems to be the problem,” He asked cleaning his glasses and looking at me patiently, “Buffy told our old friend Ford that we're the Slayers,” I told Giles waiting for a big blow up but he didn't seem shocked.

“You know? I thought the Slayer must work in secret for security?” I say reciting what I had read in the book Giles had given me when we first met.

Giles looked at me shocked and a tad proud “I've been reading the Slayer handbook you gave me” I tell him sheepishly as Giles smiled genuinely at me.

“Yes well that is true but Buffy is the kind of individual where some flexibility is required” I huffed and crossed my arms “Even if that puts us in danger?”.

Giles looks at me worried and confused “Are we in danger?” I sighed and stood to pick up my bag frustrated “I'm not sure yet but I'm going to find out” I promised as walking away before stopping when Giles called my name

“I'm sorry the council wasn't there for you when you needed them.” I turned and looked at Giles with a straight face keeping my emotions guarded.

“But I'd be willing to help you and guide you if you would like me to” I smiled at Giles as my eyes burned with a few unshed tears, nodding I smiled gently “I would like that”.

Giles and I stood in silence until I coughed “Well I'm off to do Slayery things” I said opening the door and walking out with a big smile on my face.


	20. Lie To Me

Xander, Willow and Angel and I are stood in the alley to the Sunset Club “The only thing I could track down was this address. The Sunset Club. Still didn't find anything incriminating” Willow said looking around nervously like something would pop out and kills us at any minute.

“He leaves no paper trail, no records, that's incriminating enough,” Angel says looking at us with a knowing look on his chiseled face. “Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Dead Boy on this one,” Xander says with a laugh as we walk to the door “Could you not call me that?” Angel growls looking at Xander who stopped short of the door.

I smirk as Xander stands back when Angel glares at him, knocking on the door I internally laugh as the viewport opens and the doorman looks out “We're friends of Ford's” I tell him stoically and he nods opening the door for us.

We walking inside and look around, it's gloomy to the extreme “Boy, we blend right in” Willow says sarcastically looking down at her and Xander's colorful shirts “In no way do we stick out like sore thumbs” Xander says to her in agreement as he looks around at the dark apparel everyone seemed to be wearing.

“Speak for yourselves,” I tell them looking down as mine and Angels dark clothing “Let's look around. You guys check out downstairs” Angel orders nodding to Xander and Willow “Sure thing, Bossy the cow!” Xander says saluting with sarcasm as they head downstairs.

I stand next to Angel on the balcony as we look out into the club seeing people everywhere “So what are we looking for?” I ask him as he continues to scrutinize “Anything out of the ordinary” he says in his annoying monotone voice.

I nod sarcastically and open my arms up in no general direction “None of this seems out of the ordinary for you?” I ask as we begin to walk downstairs after not finding anything suspicious, we see Xander and Willow talking to a pretty woman.

“The Lonely Ones?” Willow asks her confused “Vampires” Angel mutters making Xander and Willow jump “Oh! We usually call them the nasty, pointy, bitey ones” Xander tells the woman laughing but she doesn't follow his jokes.

“So many people have that misconception. But they who walk with the night are not interested in harming anyone. They are creatures above us. Exalted!” The woman tells us animated as Angel gives her a look “You're a fool”.

The woman stops as she looks upset by Angel's deadpan words “You don't have to be so confrontational about it. Other viewpoints than yours may be valid, you know” she says walking away sadly, Xander and Willow turn to Angel annoyed.

“You really are a people person,” Xander says sarcastically giving Angel a thumbs up “Now nobody's gonna talk to us,” Willow tells him pouting as other people seemed to avoid us now.

Angel shakes his head as he looks around disgusted “I've seen enough. I've seen this type before. I mean, they're children making up bedtime stories of friendly vampires to comfort themselves in the dark”.

Willow looks at Angel with a frown “Is that so bad? I mean, the dark can get pretty dark. Sometimes you need a story” Angel shakes his head and looks at us seriously “These people don't know anything about vampires. What they are, how they live, how they dress...”

I let out a laugh when a man dressed exactly like Angel comes down the stairs behind him and looks him up and down before continuing on, Angel clears his throat giving me a serious look as my giggle begin to get louder as he walks out of the club.

“You know, I love a good diatribe. But I'm still curious why Ford, the bestest friend of the Slayers, is hanging with a bunch of vampire wannabes” I frown when Xander says that it's so weird how Ford popped up out of nowhere and somehow knows Buffy's a Slayer.

“Something's up with him, you're right about that” Willow says looking at me as we follow Angel back out of the club. There is something up with Ford and I'm going to find out what whether Buffy likes it or not.

* * *

 

The next day I avoided Buffy like the plague I knew she was upset that we were all being a little secretive. Willow, Xander and I all sat on the stairs in the hall having a mini meeting about Buffy “So what do we do?” Willow asks me with her chin in her hands.

“Yeah, Nikki you're the Slayer too, got any ass-kicking ideas?” Xander asked me looking all excited I opened my mouth “We need to talk to....” I started before Willow jumped up “Buffy!”.

I shook my head “No I was going to say...” I started again before seeing my sister stood behind me “Ohh” I say understanding.

Buffy turns to face us but doesn't look happy about it “Did, uh, Angel...” Willow said playing with her hands nervously, smiling at me when I grabbed them to stop her.

Buffy nodded silently as she avoided my gaze “He told me everything” Buffy said looking at us with a straight face.

I looked at my sister feeling bad that she was hurting and I helped that happen “I'm sorry we kept stuff from you” I whispered as Buffy looked over at me and smiled weakly “It's okay” I knew it wasn't ok and that she was upset but I also knew it was for her own good.

“When Angel came to my room he was just really concerned for you, and we didn't wanna say anything in case we were wrong,” Willow told Buffy trying to justify all of us going behind her back but I this was something that was going to hurt Buffy more than we thought.

Buffy always wanted Ford's attention on her but never got it, he always liked laid back girls with chilled out attitudes something Buffy wasn't when we were at Hemery but now she had Ford's attention it was obvious he was using her for something.

“Did you find out what Ford is up to?” Xander asks Buffy after a moments silence “I will” she says and she walks off without giving us another look, We all watch sadly as she goes, she was hurt but she was determined that was a dangerous but sure thing with Buffy she'd get the job done.

After a moment something clicks in Xander's head and he turns to Willow “Angel was in your bedroom?” Xander and I turned to Willow questioningly as she shrugged casually “Ours is a forbidden love”.

* * *

 

Sitting in my bedroom doing my homework a knock at the window makes me jump, knowing who it was I opened the window and walked back over to my desk “we need to stop meeting like this Angel” I said with a laugh as I continue to do my homework.

“I think we need to go back to The Sunset Club” I turned around to look at Angel weirdly “Why we went we saw and all that's there are some vampire wannabe's,” I told him laughing remembering how all the teenagers there were talking about better lives in the afterlife.

I heard Angels sigh and sit on my bed “Were missing something” he mumbles to himself and maybe me but I just shrugged continuing to scribble on my homework hoping I was giving the right answers although I was guessing most of them.

A few minutes go by and I thought about what I had said “Vampire wannabe's” I said out loud making Angel look at me confused “What?” he asked looking at me with his dark eyes.

“Why would Ford be hanging around with vampire wannabes?” I said out loud until my eyes widened in realization “unless he wants to be one too?” I muttered looking at Angel who looked at me in surprise.

“But who would be willing to turn him?” Angel asked standing up and pacing across my bedroom “It has to be someone who wants something in return. What could Ford have that a vampire would really want enough to turn Ford into a vampire?” Angel says out loud as he continues pacing trying to think

I frowned in thought “what could Ford have now that he needed to move to Sunnydale to get?” I question to nobody as I get up and start to pace with Angel.

“Even more why would he come to school if he didn't need to?” I say aloud as Angel and I cross each other both still deep in thought.

“Slayers” Angel growls out and I looked at him as we both stop and face each other, “You said Buffy told you Ford knew she was the Slayer, how did he know?”.

I shrugged and remembered something “Buffy told him I was a Slayer too but why? What vampire would want to get close to Buffy or me?” I ask Angel.

Angel and I went silent before we both looked at each other with fury in our eyes “Spike” we growled in unison, Ford was just a trap to get Buffy but I still didn't know what he was getting as payment for Buffy.

Grabbing the phone I called Willow “Get Xander and meet us at The Sunset Club. It's Buffy she's in trouble” I looked at Angel who was still stood in the middle of my room “Well that's a first” I mumbled grabbing my coat ready to kick some major vampire butt.

Angel and I meet up with Xander and Willow at the Sunset Club “What's going on? Is Buffy ok?” Willow asks as she and Xander run up to us “It's Spike” I growl as we all begin to march to the door of the club.

I sigh with relief when I see a tired looking Buffy walking out of the building “Buffy!” I shout as I run to her and pull her in for a hug “Are we too late?” I ask with a frown as I look around seeing people crying and leaning on each other.

Angel, Willow and Xander walk up behind us as Buffy shakes her head “You guys are just in time” we all sighed in relief and look around at the chaos “Are there vampires?” Willow asked quietly wrapping her arms around herself in comfort.

Buffy nodded as she mimicked Willow's comforting stance “They're contained. They'll get out eventually, though. We should probably go. We can come back when they're gone” we all frowned at her as she rubbed her arms “Come back for what?” Xander asks her softly.

Buffy turns back and looks at the club “For the body” I gasp and realized “Oh Ford” Buffy nodded and lay her head on my shoulder as Angel rubbed her back “I'm Sorry” I whisper to her as I feel a few tears roll onto my arm.

I felt her shake her head “I should have listened to you but I didn't” She whispered so the others couldn't hear her, placing a small kiss to the side of her head I placed my arm around her protectively “I'm just glad you're ok B”.

* * *

 

Standing in the cemetery with Buffy and Giles I sighed as I looked at Ford's headstone, Buffy has tears in her eyes as she lays a bouquet of red roses on Ford's grave, she stands up again and I put my arm around her shoulders as we walk back to Giles.

“I don't know what I'm supposed to say,” Buffy says as we get to Giles, he just smiles softly at us “You needn't say anything” I nodded in agreement.

Buffy told me all about Ford's tumors and why he did it, I gave my sister a small smile “There's nothing that can be said Buffy he knew what he was doing”.

“It'd be simpler if I could just hate him. I think he wanted me to. I think it made it easier for him to be the villain of the piece, really he was just scared” Buffy said quietly like a small child who needed help “Yes, I suppose he was” Giles agreed, I pulled Buffy to me again and sighed.

“I think Ford didn't want the diagnosis he was given and tried to change it, selfishly but I guess he didn't see any other way out,” I said looking at my twin sister who smiled at me softly with tears in her eyes.

“Nothing's ever simple anymore. I'm constantly trying to work it out. Who to love or hate. Who to trust. It's just, like, the more I know, the more confused I get” Buffy told us and Giles laughed “I believe that's called growing up”.

“I'd like to stop then, okay?” Buffy says with a small pout as she crosses her arms looking like a child making me smile “I know the feeling” Giles retorted making me and Buffy laugh at his expense, Giles could always make us feel better.

“Does it ever get easy?” I ask him looking at the ground as Ford suddenly rises from his grave, a vampire just like he wanted and attacks Buffy.

She plunges a stake into his heart with no more effort than swatting a fly, Ford steps back and looks at the stake protruding from his chest then looks back up and bursts into ashes.

“You mean life?” Giles asks looking at us as Buffy puts her stake away “Yeah. Does it get easy?” I ask him again as Buffy and I look at him seriously needing him to answer the question “What do you want me to say?” Giles asks quietly obviously wondering whether to tell us a lie or the truth.

“Lie to me” I say as Giles looks down and thinks “Yes, it's terribly simple” We begin to walk out of the cemetery “The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after”

I look at Buffy who huffs out a laugh before I turn back to Giles with a small affectionate smile “Liar”


	21. Poor Schlubs

Sitting on a bench with Buffy and Willow we were playing Anywhere but here “I'm on a beach, but not one of those American beaches, one of those island beaches where the water's way too blue, and I'm laying on my towel, and it's just before sunset, and Gavin Rossdale's massaging my feet!” Buffy says with a wide smile as she laughs along with Willow and me.

“Oh, that's good! Uh, I'm in Florence, Italy, I've rented a scooter that's parked outside, and I'm in a little restaurant eating ziti, and there are no more tables left, so they have to seat this guy with me, and it's John Cusack!” I scrunch up my nose to my sisters and best friends choice of dream men.

“Ooo! Very impressive. You have such an eye for detail” Buffy says to Willow before turning to me with an urging look on her face making me realize it was my turn “What about you Nikki?”.

I rolled my eyes with a frown but played anyway “I'd be touring the world with my rock band where I'd be the lead singer, Sid Vicious would be alive and the sex pistols would be my friends so we could hang out”.

I laughed when Buffy and Willow looked at each other before looking at me with half smiles, they were such girls wanting things like a foot rub or quaint little restaurants.

“Hey you asked, you the girl away from punk rock but you can't take punk rock away from the girl,” I tell them knowingly as I picked at my chipped purple nail varnish.

“What are you three up to?” Xander asked walking up to us and sitting by me “Just having a quick game of 'Anywhere But Here'” I said laying my head on his shoulder as I sighed in happiness thinking about my choice. How cool would it be to be friends with the sex pistol and sing with their band?

“Ooohhh. Amy Yip at the waterslide park” Xander said excitedly rubbing his hands together making us girls roll out eyes at his boyishness.

“You never come up with anything new,” Willow said to Xander who waves her off “I'm just not fickle like you three, okay? I'm constant in my affections. Amy Yip at the waterslide park!” I smirk and smack his arm jokingly as I continue to rest my head on his arm.

Willow turns to Buffy with a deep in thought look “Do you think Giles ever played 'Anywhere But Here' when he was in school?” I smirked thinking about what Giles would choose.

“Giles lived for school. He's actually still bitter that there are only twelve grades”. Xander says tell us laughing to himself “There's only 11 grades in England, Xander” Xander turns to me with a shocked look “What?!”.

I sigh and lift my head off his arm “yep they start at 5 and leave school at 16” I tell him watching as his face drops in disappointment before he looks back up at us “Imagine if we had all left school by now” he asks us bouncing a little.

I just laughed and shook my head “I think the world isn't ready for you yet Xander Harris” The girls giggled at my comment before Buffy goes back to our previous conversation about Giles “He probably sat in math class thinking, 'There should be more math. This could be mathier.”

We all laughed at Buffy's impression of a young Giles “C'mon, you don't think he ever got restless as a kid?” Willow asked us seriously with a light smile on her face, all of us oblivious to any trouble in the world as we sit together just being teenagers, something we rarely got to do.

I turned to her wide-eyed with a grin “Are you kidding? His diapers were tweed” I say as Xander chuckles in agreement, Buffy looks over my shoulder and I turn to see Giles about to walk by and call out to him “Giles!” he turns and see us and hurries his pace “Oh! There you are” he says looking at us all a bit disheveled.

I smile nicely up at Giles “Hey, morning. Say, is that tweed?” I ask looking at his jacket as Buffy, Willow and Xander smirk, Giles looks down at his jacket preoccupied “What? Oh, uh, yes. Um, now, uh, look, tonight is very important, um...”

Giles hurries inside and we all look at each other perplexed “Now, that's a surprise” Buffy says making me nod as we hurriedly follow Giles inside.

“So, what's on tap tonight that's so important? Uprising, prophesied ritual, preordained deathfest?” Buffy asks jokingly as we catch up to Giles who still held a look of disarray.

“Ah, the old standards!” Xander jokes as we walk down the hall trying to keep our voices down “Um, a medical transport is delivering the monthly supply of blood to the hospital” Giles says but he looks pretty distracted like he had more going on than we knew..

“Mm. Vampire Meals-On-Wheels” I joke as we stop at Buffy's locker and she opens It looking for her books “Hopefully not. Uh, we'll meet outside the hospital at 8:30 sharp. I'll bring the weaponry” Giles says before looking at me and stuttering a little.

“Uh, only one Slayer will suffice unless you're wanting to.. uh.. to go too?” I smiled grateful for the option but shook my head “Thanks for the offer but I'll just chill out at home” Buffy nods her head at me and smiles at Giles “I'll bring the party mix!”.

Giles looks at Buffy pointedly “Just don't be late” Buffy looks at Giles with innocence “Have I ever let you down?” Giles took his glasses off and cleaned them before looking back at Buffy “Do you want me to answer that, or shall I just glare?”.

I snigger making Buffy elbow me playfully knowing she wasn't the one who was usually in trouble “Morning, England” Jenny greets smoothly as Giles flushes and begins to stutter “Oh, hello, Ms., uh, uh, tuh, Jenny” Willow smiles and leans into me “Feel the passion!” I smirked raising my eyebrows in jest “Mm-hm!”.

“Willow...” Jenny reprimands before giving me the same look “Coughing, not speaking” Willow says with fake coughs making me laugh loudly “You still need to work on your lying Will” Willow flushes red but nods as everyone chuckles.

Jenny looks at Willow with a small soft smile like she was used to our antics now “We still on for tomorrow?” Willow smiles and nods excitedly almost bouncing at whatever was going on between them, Xander looks between Jenny and Willow confused “What's tomorrow?”.

“I'm reviewing some computer basics for the couple of students who've fallen behind. Willow's helping out for extra credit” Jenny smiles at Willow proudly although we all know Will would do that just for fun, I nod and push Willow softly proud of her sharing that geek knowledge of hers anyway she can.

“Those poor schlubs have to attend school on Saturday!” Xander smiles and chuckles making fun of the student who has to come to school on their weekend. Jenny looks at Xander with humor in her eye “9 am okay with you, Xander?” Xander's smile fades and Willow bobs her head in amusement obviously knowing it was going to happen.

I leaned over to Xander and whispered in his ear “Got a bit of schlub on your shoe there” Xander glares at me as I move away putting my hands up in mock defense.

“Heh, heh” Jenny looks at her papers then back up at Xander who looks heartbroken “Well, Cordelia's gonna meet us” I pat Xander on the with a grimace actually feeling sorry for him now “Yay Cordelia” I cheer falsely knowing this was going to be hell for him.

“Ooo, gang, did ya hear that? A bonus day of class plus Cordelia! Mix in a little rectal surgery, and it's my best day ever!” Xander cheers sarcastically as we all smirk at him “Hey your the one who doesn't study” Willow reminds him as he sighs in defeat.

Jenny turns to Giles with a flirtatious smile “Walk me to class?” Giles smiles widely and nods “Pleasure” Jenny and Giles head for her class and we watch them go with smiles on our faces knowing how much Giles likes Jenny but won't say it out loud.

“Look at them,” Buffy says crossing her arms, nodding in the direction of where Giles and Jenny were walking “A twosome of cuteness” Xander agreed as we all smile softly at the two who were obviously into each other.

Willow sighed cheerfully “Can't you just imagine them getting together?” We all smiled again and nodded until we really thought about it and we all blanched “Gross”.


	22. Ethan Rayne?

Walking down the hall with Buffy I looked at her confused “So not only did Giles miss the hospital thing he shut the door in your face?” I asked her as we walked towards the computer room, Buffy had come home last night pissed that Giles had missed their oh-so-important meet up.

Following Buffy into the room I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame as Buffy walked over to Jenny's desk “Alright, guys. The first thing we're gonna do is... Buffy, Nicola!” I smiled when Jenny looked shocked to see us but my smiled dropped when I realized she had called me Nicola “It's Nikki” I mutter as Buffy smirks at me.

“Huh? Did I fall asleep already?” Xander says sitting up straight in his chair making me grimace at the thought of what he dreams about especially if it involved Buffy and me, we all remember how that went when he did the love spell thing.

“Aw, you miss your friends?” Willow smiles at us bouncing in her chair a little looking happy to see us again “Uh, sit here, one of you!” Xander pleads getting up quickly and points to his chair “Demilitarize the zone between me and Cordelia!”.

I smirked at Cordelia's bitch face as she glared at Xander but looked equally pleading for us to separate them “Yeah, and delouse him while you're at it” Cordelia scathes as she huffs angrily, Buffy turns to Jenny with a look “Actually I wanted to talk to you for a second?” Jenny looks at us confused before nodding “Something wrong?”.

Buffy turns to me but I just shrug knowing we'd be telling the gang later anyway, Xander seeing the look Buffy gave me puts his hands on his hips “Is there some crisis that requires instant action? Very far from here?” Buffy looks back around and sighs heavily “It's Giles” Everyone looks at us in shock and fear.

“Well, he's alright, isn't he?” Jenny asks desperately as Buffy looks at her helpless “I don't know. Uh, he didn't show up when he was supposed to last night, and then, when I went over to his place, he was acting... well, very anti-Giles. He wouldn't let me in, and he looked really bad. I-I think he might've been... I think he was drinking”

Jenny looks at Buffy in disbelief shaking her head as the rest of the gang gasps surprised “He was home alone drinking?” Jenny asks worried crossing her arms thoughtfully, Willow steps forward playing nervously with her hands “But... tea, right?”.

I shake my head and bit my lip “Wasn't tea, Will” Xander sighs and rubs his face like he knew what was going on “Yep, yep, I knew this would happen. Nobody can be wound as straight and narrow as Giles without a dark side erupting. My Uncle Roary was the stodgiest taxidermist you've ever met by day. By night, it was booze, whores, and fur flying. Were there whores?”.

We all looked at Xander in annoyance and Buffy shakes her head “He was alone” Xander nods seriously “Give it time” Buffy huffs at him but turns to look at everyone “So, none of you guys have noticed anything different lately?”.

We all shake our head Giles seemed pretty much like Giles plus he was never one to divulge into his home life he kept that to himself “No, he seemed perfectly normal yesterday when I saw him talking to the police” Cordelia says aloud and we all turn to stare at her in disbelief.

“And you waited till now to tell us this because?” I growled at her sucking the inside of my cheek knowing I was dying to say much worse “I didn't think it was important” Cordelia said shrugging her shoulder carelessly like it wasn't important to her, I opened my mouth to retort when Buffy just shook her head at me.

“We understand. It wasn't about you” Xander spat at Cordelia truthfully who just pulls a face at him “Well, what were the police talking to him about?” Jenny questions looking at Cordelia annoyed she obviously thought the same as we did.

“Oh, don't tell me, I know this one. Um...Something about... a homicide” Cordelia says clicking her fingers like she'd solved something, We all looked at each other in shock how could Giles be caught up in a homicide and why hadn't he come to us for help.

Rubbing my temples with an annoyed sigh I looked at Buffy we were getting nowhere fast “That's it. I-I'm calling him right now” I tell her walking out of the room and to the library it was the only place other than Snyder's office that had a phone, pushing through the library doors I headed for Giles' office when I hear a noise coming from in the stacks.

Stopping I turn and look only to see a shadow move across one of the bookcases in the anteroom. My eyes widened when I realized someone was here who shouldn't be here, creeping upstairs and through the french doors I slowly walk down the main aisle, looking down each side aisle.

Looking around I sighed when the shadow disappears “Damn” I whisper when I couldn't see the intruder anymore, I let out a gasp when the bookcase next to me suddenly drops. Jumping out of the way I looked back to see a familiar face, he turns tries to make his escape, but he's limping heavily and can't run.

Grabbing him I turn him and push him against a bookshelf roughly “I know you! You were in that costume shop” I shout pushing him into the bookcase harder making him squeal a little.

“Oh, I'm pleased you remember” he mutters sarcastically trying to escape as I glare at him and growl “You sold me that stupid vampire dress for Halloween, and nearly got us all killed!”.

The man smiled deviously “But you looked great” Glaring at him harder I pulled my fist back and punched him squarely in the jaw making his head his the bookshelf behind him“Owww!” he says holding his jaw and rubbing the back of his head “So now we're even?” he asks looking at me pleadingly.

“I'll let you know when we're even. What're you doing here?” I growled at him as he held his hands up in defense “Snooping around” he says shrugging his arms like it was the most normal thing in the world.

I crossed my arms and nodded my head “Honesty. Nice touch” I say giving him a sarcastic smile “It's one of my virtues,” he tells me smirking until he realizes I'm not smiling “Not really”.

I mock gasp and click my fingers “I've got a great idea why don't I just call the police and have you arrested for breaking and entering, and then I can get back to my fun Saturday?”.

The man smiles at me amused before chuckling “Yes, the police. Well, they'll have all those questions, and they'll really need Rupert to answer them all”.

I look at the man shocked letting my guard slip just a little “You know Giles?” The man smirks at me again obviously sensing the shift in power “We go back. Way back. You don't happen to know where he is, do you?”.

* * *

 

Sitting in Giles' office I stared at the phone trying to make sense out of what I had just been told, picking up the phone I dialed Giles' number and tensed my jaw angry that Giles had been keeping things from us.

I huffed when I looked over my shoulder to see 'Ethan' leaning against the wall, arms crossed with a smirk.

“Hello?” I almost smiled at the familiar voice but the tone of his voice worried me “Giles, it's me” I said with a heavy sigh sick of the situation already “Nikki, u-unless this is an emergency, I'll see you on Monday” Giles tells me exhaling sounding exhausted “What's the Mark of Eyghon?.

Everything goes quiet on the phone almost like he wasn't there “Giles?” I call into the phone wondering where he had gone “Cat got his tongue?” Ethan asks me with a smirk as I send him a dirty look over my shoulder.

“I'm in your office with someone who claims to be an old friend of yours, Ethan Rayne?” I say into the phone hoping that Giles was still there.

I hear Giles gasp on the end of the line and my stomach drops, something was wrong “He's there with you? Listen, Nicola, you're... you're in grave danger while Ethan's there. I want you to put the phone down and get out of the library as soon as possible”.

I frown when Giles used my full name as I looked over at Ethan and shake my head he doesn't seem so dangerous “I'm not going anywhere until you give me some answers!” I jump up when something crashes through the window.

Pushing myself up from the chair I huff when Ethan stands behind me and holds me in front of him as we back into the counter like a human shield.

The dead looking guy who jumped through the window follow us and runs for me, I kick him in the chest and roll over the counter.

He comes through the door and at me again as Ethan climbs over the counter, too “Ethan!” The dead-looking man shouts I turn to see the gang come through the door.

“Don't let him get away!” I shout at them pointing to Ethan who was making his way out of the library, Xander tries to push Ethan up against the counter but gets shoved aside.

Ethan tries to make his escape but Cordelia knees him in the crotch and he collapses, looking around for what I can do with the dead guy I spot Giles' cage it's door was open I back toward it and he hurries to follow me but I sidestep at the last minute and kick him into the cage “That should hold you”.


	23. Mark of Eyghon?

Standing by the cage we all watch as the dead guy paces looking very dead and scary “I'm not getting close enough to feel his pulse but I've gotta say he looks pretty dead” Willow says playing with her hands nervously.

Xander walks closer to us “Except for the walking around and attacking Nikki part” we all nod in agreement as I glare at the dead guy.

“He's dead” Ethan 'dead' pans before looking at the zombie dude pacing in the cage “Sorry, Philip. Really I am” I look between Philip and Ethan as Buffy does the same“You know him?” she asks crossing her arms looking very unamused “Knew him” Ethan nodded looking almost sad. Almost.

Cordelia stands and points a finger and Ethan “Hey, you don't speak until we tell you to speak” she shouts at him making us all look at her weirdly “Uh, Cordelia, I did tell him to speak” Buffy tells Cordelia rolling her eyes when Cordelia huffs at her.

We all jump when Giles rushes through the doors looking very disheveled “Is everyone all right?” Giles asks with a stutter as he grips my arms giving me a shake, Cordelia turns to him with a big smile “Super. I kicked a guy”.

Jenny smiles at Giles softly “We're okay” Giles looks me over a little and I smile pushing his arms off me softly as I nod in agreement with Jenny, Xander looks at Giles seriously “Dead guy there interrupted our tutorial” He says pointing to the very angry looking Philip.

“Been meaning to thank you for that” Xander says joking nodding his head at Phillip who makes a terrible sound in his throat. Giles walks to the cage and studies Philip “It... can't be” he whispers in disbelief.

“Oh yes, it can. Hello, Ripper” Ethan taunts Giles with a smirk as he appears from the shadows, Giles looks at Ethan angrily, “I thought I told you to leave town” Ethan nodded in agreement looking gleeful at the encounter.

“You did. I didn't. Shop's lease is paid through the end of the month” Giles grabs Ethan roughly and we all look at him in shock we've never seen him like this before.

“You should have left when I told you! You've put these people in danger. These are people I care about” Giles screamed at Ethan who seemed to be taking things more seriously now.

Ethan struggles against Giles' tight grip “If you care so much about them why didn't you leave town. I know you've been having the dreams, I have, we both know what's coming” Ethan taunts Giles once again making Giles glare at Ethan before letting him go.

“What dreams, what's going on?” I ask Giles whose eyes never leave the floor, Buffy comes to stand by me when Giles doesn't answer “Tell them Ripper” Ethan exclaims pointing to us, I look from Ethan to Giles “Giles?”.

Suddenly Philip kicks open the cage door and throws Jenny into the wall, she hits her head and falls to the ground unconscious “Jenny!” Giles shouts rushing over to the hurt female, Ethan looks truly frightened and runs for the door.

Willow and Cordelia scramble out of the way as Buffy punches and kicks Philip, Xander slides a book cart behind Philip and Buffy stomps Philip into it, He goes over the book cart and lands on the floor as he starts to get up his body begins to shake.

Philip collapses on the floor and liquefies I gag as I look at the goo on the floor “That's something you don't see every day” Willow stutters as we continue to look at the goo “Oh my god! I'll be in therapy till I'm thirty!” Cordelia complains and we roll our eyes at her dramatics.

Giles has knelt down and pulled the unconscious Jenny into his arms as she starts to come to “Jenny?” Giles calls softly nudging her a little, Jenny brings a hand to her forehead “Ow...” she says holding her injured head.

“Careful, careful. Can you stand?” Giles asks Jenny quietly, I smiled at his little displays of care for her “I think so” Jenny says grabbing Giles' hand and gets to her feet.

Cordelia looks over to us as we watch the two teachers “This is what happens when you have school on Saturday” that comment was probably the first time I smiled when Cordelia's talked.

Buffy and I move over to the table where Giles has sat Jenny down with a washcloth pressed to her head, Giles looks at us very tense “Giles, what's going on?” Buffy asks Giles straight to the point and I look at him seriously.

Giles sighs and turns to us “It's... complicated, girls, and frankly it's private” he tells us with a stutter and I laughed in disbelief “I don't care from private, I care from dead guys attacking us, I care from you Lost Weekending in your apartment” I tell him with a defiant look which I was very good at.

Giles just looks back at me with reluctant face “I wasn't... I just had to work out a solution” I did a sarcastic nod and smile “Solution is good. Why don't we share? What's the mark of Eyghon?” I spat out, after all, I was attacked by Ethan and Philip I should get to know.

Jenny moans a little, rubs her head with the washcloth “This is not your battle, and as your watcher, I'm telling you in no uncertain terms: stay out of it. I've got to get Jenny home” Giles tells us but his eyes stayed on mine longer than Buffy's he obviously knew what I was like.

“Home. That sounds so good right now” Jenny moans as she leans against the table, Giles takes her arm and walks her to the door giving me one last look over his shoulder, I stare hard after them before turning to the gang.

“We have work to do. Willow, I want you to find out anything and everything you can about the mark of Eyghon” I say to Willow who just looks at me with nervously “So what Giles just said about staying out of it --” I smile as Willow stutters “Thrill, as I ignore it completely” I tell her with a big smile.

Buffy nods and stands by me with her hands on her hips “He needs our help and he's going to get it” I smile as she nods her head at me I can always count on my big sister to stand by me.

“I can try the net, but the mark of Eyghon sounds like a Giles and his books kind of deal,” Willow tells us pointing to Giles' office “So we hit the books,” I say and Buffy follows Willow, as she heads for the books.

“Xander, how do you feel about rifling through Giles' personal files, see if you can shed some light,” I say to Xander who rubs his hands together excitedly “I feel pretty good about it. Does that make me a sociopath?” I laugh and pat his shoulder "If it does I don't mind".

Xander walks off and I notice Cordelia moves next to me impatient “What?” I ask her wondering why she was staring at me “What about me? I care about Giles” I sighed obviously that's why she didn't tell us about Giles' being questioned by the police but I nodded “Work with Xander”.

Cordelia looks over to Xander and back at me “Well, when I say "care", I mean --” I cut Cordelia off with a raised eyebrow “Okay, okay” she mutters and walks off slowly.

Willow and Buffy walk back with a giant stack of Giles' books and put them on the long table and begin to read before Willow suddenly hits one of the books rather hard.

“Ah! Aha! It's not Egyptian it's Etruscan, mistaken for Egyptian by the design pattern but any fool can see it pre-dates their iconology...” Willow says and turns the book to us showing us a drawing of The Mark of Eyghon.

“Look at this: the Mark Of Eyghon, worn by his initiates 'Eyghon, also called the Sleepwalker, can only exist in this reality by possessing an unconscious host. Temporary possession imbues the host with a euphoric feeling of power'" Willow says as she reads to us out of the book.

“What about not temporary?” Buffy asks as Willow looks back at the book “Unless the proper rituals are observed, the possession is permanent, and Eyghon will be born from within the host” we all stand quietly thinking “I'm guessing, Eew." Cordelia calls out to no one.

“Hey, listen. 'Once called, Eyghon can also take possession of the dead, but its demonic energy soon disintegrates the host and it must jump to the nearest dead or unconscious person to continue living.” We all look at Willow confused as she continues to read passages out of the book to us.

“I still don't understand what this has to do with Giles,” I say out loud and the gang nod with me “Well, I don't know about Giles, but ancient sects used to induce possession for bacchanals and orgies,” Willow says pointing to the book again.

“Okay, "Giles" and "orgies" in the same sentence. Coulda lived without that” Xander points out and I roll my eyes at him. “Wait a minute. The dead guy. He's all puddly now” Buffy says pointing at the puddle of dead guy.

“So the demon is gone. There was no one dead to jump into. I mean, we're all not dead, right?” Cordelia says and I gasp making everyone turn to me “No one dead...” I look at Xander who picks up my train of thought “But someone unconscious...”


	24. Is That A Tattoo!

Getting to Giles' Buffy quickly kicks the door splintering it as we enter and gasp seeing Jenny as a Demon she turns and hisses at us we take a moment to absorb the hideousness of what we're seeing.

Buffy sends Demon Jenny sprawling backward with a kick to the midsection as I stand protectively in front of Giles blocking Demon Jenny's way to him “Back off. Just stay back” I growl at her putting my hand up in front of her as I keep telling myself it's still Jenny.

Demon Jenny looks me, Buffy, then at Giles “Three down, two to go! Be seeing you” she calls before diving through a window, I kneel down to Giles who is badly injured “Are you all right?” I ask when he sits up awkwardly “Jenny... Oh, God...” Giles whispers as he stares at the broken window.

“Giles, how do we stop this thing?” I question still in shock from the scary looking Jenny “God, what have I done?” Giles mutters to himself as he rubs his face “Talk to me! Giles, you're scaring us!” Buffy shouts from my side as Giles looks up at us his eyes now soft.

“I'm sorry...” he whispers to us, Buffy stands up hurt and angry “Don't be sorry! Be Giles! Come on, we fight monsters. They show up, they scare us, we beat them up, and they leave. This isn't any different” Buffy argues folding her arms seriously.

Giles shakes his head in disagreement “It is different” he whispers to us again looking ashamed “Because you don't know how to stop it” I tell him still kneeling by his side, he looks up at me his “Because I created it”.

Standing back thinking about what Giles; had said I watched as Buffy lifted him up effortlessly and walked him over to the couch, noticing his wounds I went to the kitchen and got the first aid box that Giles kept beside his oven along with his cookbook and fire extinguisher, Giles wasn't the most careful person in the kitchen.. or anywhere really he was always getting hurt.

Walking back into the living room I saw Buffy has got Giles to the couch where he sits in the darkened apartment, telling us the story behind the mark of Eyghon as I sit next to him bandaging his arm.

“Studying history at Oxford and of course the occult by night. I hated it. The boring grind of school, the pressure of my 'destiny'” Giles sighs using quoting fingers as my eyebrows shot up in surprise at the thought of Giles hating school.

“So I dropped out. I went to London, fell in with the worst crowd that would have me. We practiced magicks. Small stuff, for pleasure or gain. And then Ethan and I discovered something a little bigger” Buffy and I looked at each other knowingly as Giles lets out a sad sigh.

“Eyghon” I mutter to him and he nods rubbing his face “Yes. We put one of us into a deep sleep and the others would summon him. It was an extraordinary high. God, we were fools” Giles tells us and shakes his head obviously beating himself up over this.

“You couldn't control it” Buffy muttered to herself and us “One of us, Randall, he lost control. Eyghon took him whole. We tried to exorcise the demon from Randall, but it killed him. We killed him”.

I closed my eyes and sighed from what I had just learned “God...” I whispered to myself wondering how this had impacted Giles “We thought we were free of the demon after that. But it's back. And one by one it will kill us all” Giles tells us as I finish wrapping his arm.

“Three down, two to go,” Buffy says as Giles nods at us as we remember what Jenny said “Then it's going after Ethan. We better beat it there.” Buffy says looking at me as I stand and nod knowing we'd have to go save Ethan too.

“We better,” Giles says pointing to the 3 of us making me smirk and patronizingly patted his shoulder “You're barely mobile and speed is of the serious essence”.

“Girls, I don't know how to stop it without... without killing Jenny” Giles stutters looking at me and Buffy worried “I got the guys working on it. I'll try to contain her till we can figure something” I said looking at Giles who just half smiles and nods “You didn't listen to me when I told you to leave it alone”.

I looked at Giles and my jaw tightened slightly ready I to defend my reasoning “No I didn't listen to you I did what you would have done for me” I said looking him in the eye before looking away quickly when I realized what I said.

“Thank you” my head shot up when I heard Giles' answer “You knew something was wrong and that....” Giles stopped and looked at me before I saw him swallow hard struggling with what he was about to say “that I needed help and you did what you knew was right”.

I smiled and patted Giles on the arm softly as I turned to walk away with Buffy “Wait” Buffy says and turns to me “You should stay here, just in case she comes back for Giles” I look at Buffy and nodded with a sigh “Yeah ok, just be careful” I tell her with a look before she nods and starts to leave.

“I'm sorry” Giles whispers to us, I nod and Buffy turns and smiles a little “We know” before she turns and walks away, sighing I sat on the arm of Giles' couch.

“Well I'm glad it's Buffy looking after Ethan, that guy annoys the crap outta me,” I tell Giles with a small laugh “You have no idea” Giles quips back taking his glasses off and cleaning them.

* * *

  
After a while of sitting on Giles' couch I started to feel sick like something was wrong shrugging it off I got up to check on Giles when he stumbles from the kitchen “Giles” I shout before he falls into my arms.

I shook Giles as he eyes began to roll “Giles! Giles!” I shook Giles again and he opened his eyes with a gasp and looked at me “Ethan... Oh, no...” Giles moved to get up and I helped him confused as he pulled me out of the door and to his car.

Sitting in the seat next to Giles I look at him worried “Are you ok to drive?” I ask when he seems like he can't concentrate, Giles looks over to me and seems like he's thinking to himself “Do you have a drivers license” he asks making me nod quickly “Yeah my dad made me take it early”.

Giles nodded and we both got out of the car and swapped seats “Now please Nikki drive safe but fast” he says as I start the car and pull off quickly “Well not.. not fast just quickly but cautiously” he babbled making me laugh as I drive through the town to the Halloween shop.

Seeing the light on in the shop we jump out of the car and ran to Ethan's shop I pushed open the door in time to see Demon Jenny picks up the table and uses it to push Buffy back pinning her against the wall I see Buffy strain to escape, she's trapped “Eyghon!” Giles shouts strongly “Take me”.

I turn my head to Giles who had moved away from me and give him a look “Don't piss it off Giles” I mutter as Jenny heaves the table aside it crashes and splinters near Ethan, who is now crouching in a corner like a coward.

“Nikki, Buffy, get out of here!” Giles shouts out loud as Jenny walks to Giles “No!” Buffy screams as she tries to move between them.

Demon Jenny raises her hand and puts a finger on to Buffy's face and Buffy is thrown across the room “Buffy!” I scream and throw my arm and Jenny flies across the room and hits the wall.

“Two can play at that,” I say cockily until Jenny gets up unscathed making me gulp as she throws me into Buffy.

Demon Jenny throws Giles to the ground and straddles him “I've been waiting a long time to do this” Jenny growls at Giles when she was suddenly tackled off of Giles by Angel.

Willow, Xander, and Cordelia run in as we all watch Angel starts to strangle Demon Jenny, Giles starts toward her but Willow stops him “He's killing her” Giles exclaims giving Willow a harsh look but Willow shakes her head “Trust me. This is going to work...”.

Demon Jenny claws at Angel's hands as she gasps for breath.  
Jenny begins howls out in pain as Angel is thrown off her, She rolls away coughing.

“Did we kill it?” Cordelia asks out loud but no one answers her as Angel cries out and he eyes begin to glow “It's in Angel!” Buffy cries pointing at Angel who begins to fight the demon inside of him.

“This is going to work” Willow tells us again but a lot less confidently this time, Angel's face began to morph from Demon, Vampire and then back to Angel's face as he screams out in agony, Angel finally falls to the ground as the Demon fades away, Buffy and Willow rush over to him.

Giles has recovered and struggles to his feet he goes to Jenny and takes her in his arms “Jenny...?” Jenny looks up at Giles confused and upset “Rupert” Giles picks Jenny up and balances her by his side “It's okay. I've got you”.

Buffy and Willow help Angel to his feet “You knew that if the demon was in danger it would jump into the nearest dead guy” Buffy says to Willow and Angel, Willow nods and smiles widely.

“I put it in danger,” Angel tells Buffy as Willow bounced happily “And it jumped” Angel looked at us with his normal brooding look “But I've had a demon inside me for a couple hundred years just waiting for a good fight”.

We all smile at Angel “Winner and still champion” Buffy says curling into Angel's side looking at us happily “Ding ding” I tell her with a smile “Uh, I think that Ethan guy disappeared” Xander says and we look around to see he was right.

“Darn. I really wanted to hit him till he bled” Buffy tells us with a small smirk “Feels mutual sis” I mutter remembering what a creep he was.

“Well, at least it's over,” Cordelia says as we follow Angel and Buffy out of the shop “What the hell is that on your neck Buffy? Is that a tattoo? Mom is going to kill you” I tell Buffy with a shocked laugh as we continue to walk.

“It's no different to your belly ring, hmm maybe mom will find out about that accidentally” I look at Buffy shock “that's totally different... you're not going to tell mom right?” I ask Buffy who just laughs and walks away with the rest of the gang leaving me in the shop alone “Buffy? Buff? B! Come on”

 


	25. Vampire Thieves

A guidance counselor sits behind a table from which a sign hangs "VOCATIONAL APTITUDE TEST." I grimace as I grabbed a test and a pencil from the table and next to Buffy and Xander as they're filling out their forms.

“"Are you a people person or do you prefer keeping your own company? What if I'm a people person who keeps his own company by default?” Xander asks us looking down at his test “So mark none of the above." Buffy said as she filled in her own form.

“There is no box for none of the above. That would introduce too many variables into their mushroom head, number-crunching little world” Xander grumbles out making us look at him in amusement “I'm sensing bitterness” Willow says as she sits down at the table with us smiling in jest.

“It's just these people can't tell from one multiple choice test what we're supposed to do for the rest of our lives. It's ridiculous” Xander says to us and I nodded in agreement, I never thought about life after school before but I guess being The Slayer is my only career option now.

“I'm kind of curious to find out what sort of career I could have,” Willow tells us excitedly bouncing a little like the cute nerd she is “and suck all the spontaneity out of being young and stupid? I'd rather live in the dark” Xander huffs again not looking up from his test.

“We won't be young forever” Willow says and I look up with a morbid thought that being the slayer usually means you'll be forever young because the life expectancy is not great “I'll always be stupid” Xander says then looks up when none of us say anything “Okay, let's not all rush to disagree…”

“You're not stupid,” I said monotone looking down at my test before turning to Buffy ” Do I like shrubs?” she glanced at me before shrugging as Xander laughed “That's between you and your God” I turned to Willow biting my lip “What'd you put?” Will looked at us and shrugged with a nod “I came down on the side of shrubs”.

“Go shrubs. Okay.” I put down my pencil and sighed “We shouldn't even be bothering with this. It's all moot-ville for us. No matter what my aptitude test says I already know my deal” I said with a grunt as Buffy looks up at me with realization on her face.

“Yep. High risk, sub-minimum wage…” Xander mutters looking at Buffy as she holds up her number 2 pencil with a pout “pointy wooden things” she agrees but still continues to fill out her form.

“So why are you even taking the test?” Willow says looking at me and my twin, I shrugged and twirled my pencil as I ticked more boxes on the test.

“It's Principal Snyder's 'hoop' of the week. He's not happy unless I'm jumping, believe me, I wouldn't be here otherwise” Buffy tells Willow with a sigh and lean back in her chair “You're not even a teensy weensy bit curious about what kind of career you could have had? I mean, if you weren't already Slayers and all”.

Buffy looks at Willow upset “Do the words "sealed" and "fate" ring any bells for you, Will? Why go there?” Buffy snapped at our redhead friend who looks stung by Buffy's tone, I looked over at Buffy raising my eyebrow as Xander sighs “You know, with that kind of attitude you could have had a bright future as an employee of the DMV”.

Buffy frowned and looks around the table at each of us her face apologetic “I'm sorry. It's just unless hell freezes over and every vamp in Sunnydale puts in for early retirement I'd say my future is pretty much a non-issue” I nodded in agreement it wasn't great to think I'll be doing this for the rest of my life. however long that may be.

* * *

  
After a long day of trying to get out of looking at career things Buffy and I both agreed we go on patrol together knowing how much the other needed to kick some vampire or some kind of other evils butt.

Walking through the cemetery with Buffy I sighed heavily neither of us was very talkative and I knew it was because of the Aptitude test we did today, I looked at the ground and watched as dead leaves tumble across the ground, riding the wind.

Craning my head to the left I began to head a tick tick tick noise I looked at Buffy and she nodded she could hear it, looking for the noise my eyes stopped on a mausoleum I felt Buffy behind me as we started to move toward it.

The ticking sound grew louder as we near the mausoleum, I looked at Buffy when I found the solid iron door ajar and a light flickers through the narrow margin, peaking my head around the door I glared at the sight I saw.

A torch is set in the ground, illuminating the work of a dark figure who breaks the lock of a vault door embedded in the far wall, the thief opens the vault and grabs something from it then he makes for the exit.

Buffy pulls me from the door as we wait for the thief to come by us “Does 'rest in peace' have no sanctity to you people?” Buffy questions tackling the vampire thief as he comes from the mausoleum hitting the ground hard, a red velvet bag falls from his hands.

“Oh, I forgot you're not a people” Buffy pulls a stake and gets ready to dust the vampire when I feel my Slayer instincts tingle and I turn and kick a vampire that was lurking behind me, I grab the vampire throwing him to Buffy whilst I pull out my stake and plunged it into his chest.

“One down,” Buffy says aloud as we turn to take on the other vamp but he's gone and the red velvet bag was missing too “One gone…” I growled throwing my weapon bag angrily “Damn it” I grunt picking up the bag as Buffy eyed me silently “What?” I questioned rubbing dirt from the bottom of my bag.

“Why are you so angry?” Buffy asked quietly as she crossed her arms looking at me questioningly “He got away!” I shouted throwing my hand up making the leaves on the ground fly off in the direction I moved my hand, I lowered my arm knowing my telekinesis was linked to my emotions which right now were not calm.

“So some vamps get away all the time,” Buffy tells me as we leave the cemetery to sneak back into our house, I spin around quickly making my sister jump in fright.

“Some get away? This is for the rest of our lives Buffy if we can't do this right then we might as well give up and let them kill us now” Buffy stops walking beside me as I storm off feeling more guilty with every step I took.

* * *

Walking through the school the next day I frowned seeing my sister and Willow walking through the schoolyard.

Buffy wasn't home this morning when I knocked on her door to beg for forgiveness and seeing my sisters face now as she talked to Willow I knew I needed to apologize.

“Hey Buff” I greeted tensely as my sister looked over to me with a serious look on her face “I'm sorry about last night, it's just with this stupid test and...” my sister smiled and put her hand on my shoulder “I understand and I'm not mad” she said as I looked confused.

“You're not,” I asked as she shook her head and pulled me into a hug “I know how you're feeling” she whispered to me as we hugged each other tighter with a giggle when Willow joins our hug.

“Wouldn't you three say you know me about as well as anyone? Maybe even better than I know myself?” Xander asks as he walks towards us rubbing his hands together.

“What's this about?” I asked looking confused holding the straps on my backpack as we all walked together.

Xander turns to us and holds out his arms “When you look at me, do you think prison guard?” We looked at Xander and then each other with uneasy smiles “Crossing guard, maybe. But prison guard?” Buffy jokes shaking her head as Willow and I laugh.

“They just put up the assignments for the career fair. And according to my test results, I can look forward to being gainfully employed in the growing field of corrections” we laughed again stopping at the edge of the grass

“At least you'll be on the right side of the bars,” Buffy says to Xander jokingly as he pretends to laugh too.

“Laugh now, missy. They assigned you to the booth for law enforcement professionals” Xander says with a laugh but this time Buffy doesn't.

I look at her to see she looked shocked “As in police?” she asks with a grimace when Xander nodded with a smirk “As in polyester, donuts, and brutality”.

“Uggh” Buffy says looking down as Willow smiles cheerfully “But, donuts…” I nodded in agreement but Buffy still doesn't look like she loves this news of her career aspect “I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it. First, we have to deal with Giles-”.

We all looked to see Giles entering the library up ahead, a foot-tall stack of books balancing under his chin “He's on this Tony Robbins hyper-efficiency kick. He wants us to check in with him now every day after homeroom” Buffy says pointing between me and her as we walked towards Giles.

Giles struggles to try to set the books down on a library table they tilt, about to topple when Buffy catches them “Oh, Buffy. Thank you” Giles says as Buffy sets the books down on the table with a smile.

Giles looks at us with a grin “I've been indexing the Watcher Diaries covering the past two centuries. You'd be amazed at how numbingly long-winded some of these watchers were” Buffy and I looked at each other grinning “Color us stunned”

Giles opens his notebook “I trust last night's patrol was fruitful” We nodded and sat next to him “ Semi. We caught one out of two vamps after they stole something from this jumbo mausoleum at the cemetery-” Buffy started to tell Giles before he interrupted her looking confused.

“They were stealing?” Buffy nodded with a frown “Yep. They had tools, torches, the whole nine yards…What does that mean? The whole nine yards… nine yards of what? Now that's gonna bug me all day” I tapped Buffy when I see Giles pacing, visibly disturbed.

“Giles, you're in pace mode. What gives?” I asked and leaned back in the chair as Giles turned to us looking worried “The vampire who escaped did you see what he took?” Giles asks with a little stutter.

“No, but let me take a wild guess. Some old thing?” Buffy says with a little smirk on her face “I'm serious, Buffy” Giles says looking at Buffy with a criticizing look “So am I. I bet it was downright crusty” I coughed out a little laugh at my sister's morbid thoughts.

“So you made no effort to find out what was taken?” Giles barks obviously losing his patience with us, we look at Giles surprised by his tone. “Have a cow, Giles. I thought it was just everyday vamp hijinks” Buffy says back to Giles a little quieter than before.

Giles looks at both of us annoyed “Well it wasn't. It could be very serious. If you'd made more of an effort to be thorough in your observations-” Buffy stood cutting him off with a look of hurt.

“If you don't like the way I'm doing my job - why don't you find someone else? Oh right. 'There can be only one'” Buffy shouts to Giles before turning to me with a grimace.

“Well other than Nikki but we're package deal so as long as we're alive, there isn't anyone else. Well, there you go! We don't have to be the Slayer. We could be dead!” I just sat and watched as Buffy babbled and I didn't really know what to do, is this how she felt last night?.

Giles just looked at Buffy unimpressed “That's not terribly funny. You'll notice I don't laugh” Buffy just looked at Giles annoyed “Wouldn't be much of a change, anyway. I mean, either way, I'm bored, constricted, I never get to shop and my hair and fingernails continue to grow so really, what's the dif?”

I raised my eyebrow not sure where to jump in so I did something I've never done before I stayed silent “Must we be introspective now? Our only concern at this moment should be to discover what was stolen from that mausoleum last night” Giles told Buffy who just nodded at him obviously still upset by his words.

They both looked at me confused as I sat there silent with a big smile “Sound good” I said giving them a thumbs up before realizing I hadn't actually listened to a thing they had said, “So what's the sitch?”.


	26. The Amazing Mr. Cross

So instead of being at the career fair with Xander and Willow looking at my chosen career path of a 'Forensic Scientist' I am currently walking through a cemetery with my sister and watcher who have been butting heads all afternoon.

I smirked as I watched as Giles tries to keep pace with Buffy who was walking at a brisk pace still hurt from the conversation we had before where Giles called us out on being sloppy “Buffy. Please. Slow down” Giles begs as he tries to keep up with Buffy instead of dawdling behind with me.

Buffy turns to Giles with a slight sneer which shocked me “Get with the program, Giles. We have work to do, remember?” Giles looks at Buffy equally as surprised “You're behaving in a terrible immature manner-” Buffy whirls around furiously and cuts Giles off.

“Bingo. You know why? I am immature! I'm a teen! I've yet to mature!” She all but growls at the older man as I grimaced at the aggressiveness in her voice “I was simply offering a little constructive criticism-” Buffy laughed upset at Giles' unhelpful words.

“You were harsh, you act like I picked this gig but I'm the picked. Too bad if I want a normal job” I frowned at my twins words being a slayer must be getting to her more than I thought “What you and Nikki have is more than a… gig. It's a sacred duty” Giles replied as he looked at Buffy and I as we stood arguing while the dead lay beneath us.

Buffy gives him a 'been there, heard that' look as Giles scrambles trying to calm her “Which shouldn't prevent you from eventually procuring a more… mundane form of employment if you like. Such as I have”.

Buffy gasps at Giles like he didn't understand her predicament “It's one thing being a Watcher and a librarian. They go together like chicken and… another chicken. Two chickens. Or something” Buffy says before seeing the look on Giles' face “Chickens?” I whisper to myself giving Buffy a weird look.

“You know what I'm saying you can spend all your time with a bunch of books and no one blinks but what can I do? Carve stakes for a nursery?” Buffy asks Giles with her hands on her hips as Giles blinks at her obviously realizing that Slaying and a normal job didn't go hand in hand.

“Point taken. I suppose I've never really thought about-” Giles begins but then stops himself deep in thought “Tell me. Have you ever considered law enforcement?” Giles offers looking proud of himself until Buffy gasps and pushed her way past our confused looking Watcher.

I smirk and patted Giles on the shoulder as I walked forward to follow Buffy “Good one Giles” I told him laughing as I followed my sister through the cemetery as she stomped through it like an angry bull.

* * *

  
As we get to the mausoleum we patrolled yesterday Buffy pulls open the heavy iron door and enters with me and Giles following her, I click on the flashlight I had been carrying and guided the beam through the dusty room.

Buffy leads us to the open vault door “May I?” Giles asks us politely and smiles when we both look at each other and nod “Be my guest” I say holding out the flashlight I was using and moved to stand behind when he took it and shone it into the empty vault.

“It's a reliquary, used to house items of religious significance. Most commonly, a finger or some other body part from a saint” Giles says as Buffy and I peek into the vault over his shoulders “Note to self: Religion, freaky” I mutter to Buffy as she nods in return.

Giles turns and shines the wall with the flashlight beam which now falls across letters carved in the granite above the doorway Du Lac. “Du Lac… Oh dear” Giles gasps to himself as I quickly turn and look at him wide-eyed “I hate when you say that”.

“Josephus du Lac is buried here,” Giles tells us like we knew what he was talking about “Was he a saint?” Buffy asked Giles as I looked on interested “Hardly. He belonged to a sect of priests who were excommunicated by the Vatican at the turn of the century” Giles explained to us as he cleaned his glasses.

I turned to Buffy “Hmm excommunicated and sent to Sunnydale. Must have been big with the sinning” I said aloud with a smirk and she smiled back knowing I was referring to myself also “Remember the book that was stolen from the library by a vampire a few weeks back? It was written by DuLac and his cohorts -”

Giles stops himself short looking very frustrated “Damn it. In all the excitement, I let it slip my mind” Buffy looks at Giles equally as confused as I was “I'm guessing it wasn't a Taste of the  
Vatican Cookbook”.

Giles shook his head seriously “The book is said to contain rituals and spells that reap unspeakable evil. However, it was written in archaic Latin - so nobody but the sect members could read it.”

“Then everything's cool. The sect is gone. Worm food like old Du Lac, right?” Buffy mutters to Giles who looks troubled “I don't like it, Girls. First, the book is taken from the library. Now vampires steal something from Du Lac's tomb…”

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair and griming when I found a cobweb “You think they've figured out how to read the book?” Giles looks at me silently before huffing frustrated “I don't know. But something's coming and I guarantee, whatever it is - it's not good”.

Giles moves off purposefully, Buffy stays with me and I sigh “It never is” I mumble feeling very tired and annoyed why could vampires and every evil being just take a couple of months from doing evil and murderous things just so I could get more than 4 hours sleep.  
-  
Buffy, Willow, and Xander and I sit around the table in the library “So Giles is sure that the vampire who stole his book is connected to the one you slayed last night? Or is it slew?" Willow asks us before concerning herself on the right pronunciation of a word.

“Both are correct,” Giles tells her as he emerges from the stacks with a yellowed periodical “And yes. I'm sure” Giles sets the magazine down in front of us. It's a National Geographic, circa 1921 “Du Lac was both a theologian and a mathematician. This article describes an invention of his, which he called the du Lac Cross”

“Why go to all the trouble of inventing something and then give a weak name like that? I'd have gone with Cross-o-matic! or "The Amazing Mr. Cross!" Xander stops talking when he realizes he is getting the stare again.

Giles indicates a yellowing photo of the stolen crucifix “The cross was more than a symbol. It was also used to understand certain mystical texts to decipher hidden meanings and so forth” I sat back in my seat and looked at Giles “You're saying these vampires went to all that trouble for your basic decoder ring?”

Giles looks at me for a minute with a blank stare then smiles widely “Actually, I guess I am” I nodded in understanding “According to this, du Lac destroyed every one of the crosses - except the one buried with him” Willow told us her eyes still on the magazine.

“Why destroy his own work?” Buffy asks aloud deep in thought “I suppose he feared what might happen if the cross fell into the wrong hands” Giles guessed and I grimaced “A fear we'll soon get to experience for ourselves, up close and personal”

“Unless we preempt their plans,” Giles says looking at me and cleaning his glasses “How?” Willow asks when she's finished reading about the cross “By learning what was in the book before they do” Giles looks at us with a grim look on his face “Which means we can expect to be here late tonight”

Willow cheered as Xander, Buffy and I sighed “Goody! Research party!” We all looked at Willow weirdly as she cheered “Will, you need a life in the worst way” Xander told Willow making her smile drop.

“Speaking of… I have to bail. I promise I'll be back bright and early, perky and ready to slay” Buffy says getting up quickly and gives me a meaningful look not that I understood what she was trying to tell me.

Giles looks at her, perplexed “This is a matter of some urgency, Buffy” Buffy looks at Giles and nods “I know. But you have to admit, I lack in the book area. You guys are the brains. I'd just be around for moral support-”

Xander looks at Buffy and stands “That's not true, Buffy. You totally contribute. You go for snacks” Buffy looks at me desperately and I nodded suddenly remembering what was so important and where she was going.

“She should go. I'm here you know also The Slayer” Giles looks and me and nods fervently “Yes, yes you're right. Both slayers aren't needed for uh research” I smile at Buffy and nod my head to the door “Go ahead Buff” she smiles at me and pulls on her coat.

“But - Ho Ho's are a vital part of my cognitive process” Xander whines and sits back down almost pouting which was not an attractive sight “Sorry, Xand. I have something I really need to do tonight-” Buffy leans down behind my chair hugging me tight and whispering “Thank you”

Nodding I push her off me gently and give her a genuine smile “It better be worth it” I tell her grabbing a book and diving into research.


	27. Order Of Taranta

I yawned as I sat next to Buffy on the table in the library after a long and late night of research Buffy had woken me up early practically dragging me to school so she could tell Giles about the big guy that she and Angel had been attacked by.

I watched as Giles studies the ring, comparing it to an etching in a book, Buffy sighed as she held an ice pack on her knee looking shaky and worse for the wear after her encounter.

Willow and Xander looked at Buffy with sympathy when she groaned in pain “This guy was hardcore Giles, and Angel was power-freaked by the ring” I looked at Buffy shocked this dude must have been something else.

“I'm afraid he was not overreacting. The ring is worn only by members of the Order Of Taranta. They are a society of demon assassins dating back to King Solomon…” Giles says looking up from his book with a worried look.

“And didn't they beat the Elks last year in the Sunnydale Adult Bowling League Championship?” Xander says with a laugh though no one joined him “Their credo is to sow discord and kill the unwary” Giles explains ignoring Xander who was still smiling.

“Bowling is a vicious game -” Xander starts to joke before Giles cuts him off “That's enough, Xander -” Willow, Xander, Buffy and I glance at each other reacting to Giles' sharp tone, you know to worry when Giles snaps.

“I'm sorry but this is no time for jokes. I need to think” Giles says taking off his glasses and pinches his nose “These assassins. Why would they be after me?” Buffy asks looking at us “Cause you're the scourge of the underworld?” Willow says softly looking upset.

“Yeah, but I haven't been that scourgy lately” Buffy pouts looking down before she looks up at me alarmed “If they're after me because I'm a slayer...” I sighed when all eyes turned to me I gave Buffy a small smile and squeezed her hand.

“Don't worry I'm a big girl” I say with a laugh but Buffy just shakes her head looking conflicted “I think the best thing to do is to find a secure location. Someplace out of the way where you two can go until we decide on the best course of action” Giles stutters looking between Buffy and me.

Buffy stands with a little difficulty looking freaked out “Okay. You and Angel have both told me to head for the hills. What's the deal?” Giles looks at us with a troubled look “I - this is an I extraordinary circumstance…”

I looked at Buffy and her eyes were widened in fear I clenched my jaw trying to be strong and looked at Giles “When do we have a usual circumstance, Giles? I mean mummy girls and snake guys and… But you've never told us to hide before. I mean you're saying we can't handle this? These guys are that bad?” I asked but I already knew the truth it's written all over his face.

Giles sighed sadly and stared at us his eyes unwavering “You might, they're… they're a breed apart, girls. Unlike vampires, they have no earthly desire except to collect their bounty. To find their target and eliminate it”

We all sat listening to Giles knowing the situation was very serious and called for our best attention “and you are the target. You can kill as many of them as you like but it won't make any difference because where there is one, there will be another and another. They won't stop coming until the job is done”.

Looking down at my hands I breathed heavily when I realized that someone was out there trying to kill Buffy and me other than the usual vampires.

“The worst of it is, they are masters of deceit. Vampires are bound by the Night, but these predators can be anywhere, anytime. They can appear as normal as the next person. Just another face in the crowd. You might not ever know when one of them is near - not until the moment of your death”

Getting up I ran out of the library with Buffy shouting my name I was not ready to die, they can come all they like but only I won't be the one dying, walking down the hall I pushed passed the mass of student who was looking at me weirdly.

My eyes bounced around from face to face as I looked around, the faces of students, teachers seem innocent but are they could they be getting ready to kill me and my twin, I closed my eyes as the noise and voices began to melt into an echoing white noise.

“Nikki” Opening my eyes to my sister's voice I gasp in shock as a guy runs towards me fast reacting on instinct I grab the guy by the collar and throw him against the wall harshly “Try it!” I growl in his face ready to attack if need be.

Buffy appears by my side as I hold the guy tight in my grip “Try what?” he asks as Buffy puts a hand on my shoulder “Nikki it's only Oz” she whispers gently to me, the haze in my vision begins to move and I see Oz another student at our school.

Seeing the terrified looking on his face I let him go as I let out a shaky breath “Sorry” I mumbled as my sister grabs my arms knowing what happens when my emotions get the best of me “I'm still not clear on what I'm supposed to try” Oz says confused as he looks between me and Buffy.

Looking around I see people staring and whispering “Nothing” Buffy snaps at him as she grabs my hand but I took my hands away from her as the room began to get smaller, the walls felt like they were caving in.

I knew I had to get out of here before people started asking questions “Nikki?” Buffy's voice called to me but I couldn't breathe so I did the best thing I could, I ran.

* * *

Giles and Willow sit at the library table looking over volume upon volume of Giles' books “I wish there was more we could do” Willow whispers sadly looking over at the man who had become a father to them all, Giles looks up at Willow his eyes reflecting fatigue and concern.

“We're doing all we can. The only course of action is to decipher the contents of the stolen book” Giles says trying to smile at the small red-headed girl to ease her worries “I've never seen Buffy or Nikki like that. They just took off and there's talk of Nikki attacking Oz in the hall” Willow says with a pout not believing her best friend would attack Oz.

“They're not home” Xander announces as has enters the library “I let the phone ring a few hundred times before I remembered their mom's out of town” Xander sighs as he sits down next to Willow worried about his two best friends.

“Maybe they unplugged the phone…” Giles retorts as he tries to make himself feel better but Willow and Xander look over at him with a look “It's a statistical impossibility for sixteen year old girls to unplug a telephone” Xander tells Giles' with a frown as Willow nods in a reluctant agreement.

“Perhaps my words of caution were a bit too alarming, I know how Nikki can get with her power and Buffy is uhh very sensitive,” Giles says rubbing the bridge of his nose “You think?” Xander says looking at the older man with a sarcastic tone.

Willow hits Xander's arm before looking at Giles with a gentle look “It's good that they took you seriously, Giles. I just wish we knew where they were” the three of them nod at the thought and each sigh in worry for the twin Slayers.

 

 


	28. Kendra the Vampire Slayer

Leaving the girls locker room I gave a small yawn, I had spent the night patrolling and trying to get a head start on these assassins but with no luck, they weren't attacking for some reason.

Walking to my locker I put the clothes I was wearing away and smoothed out the clean outfit I had just put on, good thing I put away clothes for a situation kind of like this.

Knowing I had to go find Giles and the Scoobies I sighed gently as I slowly made my way to the library wanting nothing more than to get out of the halls where the other students watched my every movement probably wondering if I was going to go crazy again.

Pushing open the library doors I frowned as Buffy stood in her clothes from last night with Giles and another girl I had never met before but she seemed stoic like she was on a mission.

“Ah Nikki you're here” Giles said happily to me as he waved me over seemingly glad to see me “I'm truly sorry about yesterday” he whispered to me as he wiped his glasses, I just nodded slowly looking over Giles' shoulder at the girl who was staring at me “Who's this?” I asked Buffy and Giles who looked at each other before me.

“Kendra this is Nikki, a Slayer and Buffy's twin sister. Nikki this is....” Giles started as he extended his arm in Buffy and Kendra's direction before begin cut off “I am Kendra the vampire slayer” Kendra greets proudly taking a step towards me and holding out her hand.

I take her hand but give Giles a confused look, dropping Kendra's hand I looked at my sister and Giles “the vampire slayer how can that be possible?” Buffy snorts before Giles give her a reprimanding look “Buffy, please. There has obviously been some kind of misunderstanding here.”

“I'll say” I muttered as I sat down at the table still confused until Willow enters the library, “Hey-” Willow says before Kendra advances on her about to attack “Identify yourself!” Buffy quickly stops Kendra and gives her a withering look.

“Back off, Pink Ranger. This is my friend-” Buffy says as she grabs Willows arm leaving Kendra confused “Friend?” Buffy sighs but nods “You know. Person you hang with? Amigo?” Willow sits down next to me shakily as she eyes Kendra.

“I - I don't understand” Kendra stutters looking very perplexed, Buffy rolls her eyes and turns to Giles “You try. I'm tapped” Giles steps forward to Kendra with a polite smile “Kendra. There are a few people, civilians if you will, who know Buffy and Nikki's identity. Willow is one of them and they also spend time together. Socially”

Willow nods happily at Giles explanation as Kendra takes this in and nods in understanding, but still looks puzzled “And you allow this, sir?” she asks a shocked looking Giles “Well, you see . . .” Kendra looks at Giles bewildered and maybe a little offended “But, the slayer must work in secret. For security-”

Giles chuckles uncomfortably “Of course. With Buffy, however, it's . . . Some flexibility is required-” Buffy looks up at Giles stubbornly and down at me as I poke my tongue out at her knowing she's the one who broke the rules and not me “Why?” Kendra presses again looking angry.

“Hi, guys. What's going on?” Willow piped up trying to defuse the situation that was brewing between us “There's been a big mix-up” Buffy tells Willow with a small shrug as the three of us sit together at the table “It seems, that somehow, another slayer has been sent to Sunnydale” Giles explains to Willow who still looks confused.

“Is that even possible? I mean, three slayers at the same time?” Willow questions Giles as they both look between Kendra, Buffy and I “Not that I know of. The new slayer is only called after the previous slayer has died” Giles tells Willow as he continues to look at us perplexed.

“I mean it's highly unusual that we have Buffy and Nikki as Slayers together” Giles exclaims aloud, Buffy and I look at each other with a smirk then fist bump “And I've never died well unless you count Halloween when I became a vampire” I said laughing and looked around at shocked faces as realization kicks in.

“That counts?!” I shouted at Giles shocked as he nodded slowly seemingly understanding how Kendra came to be a Slayer “Your heart effectively stopped when you transformed into a vampire” Giles explains to us as I stand shocked “It was only for one night” I mutter with a small pout kicking my foot onto the table.

“Like I said when I told you Buffy died it doesn't matter how long you were gone. You were physically dead, causing the activation of Kendra” Giles explained to me as I continued to pout stubbornly “She . . . died?” Kendra says pointing to me.

“Yes, she dressed up as a vampire for Halloween and a spell was cast which effectively brought their costumes to life,” Giles told Kendra who nodded but didn't look like she really understood.

Willow looked at us with an excited smile “So there really are three of them?” she exclaimed like we were a circus attraction or worse a girl band, Giles nodded “It would appear so. Yes.” Giles sits at the table looking stunned “We have no precedent for this. I'm quite flummoxed”.

I looked at Giles with wide eyes and jumped out of my chair “What's the flum? It's a mistake she isn't supposed to be here. She goes home” I turned to Kendra “No offense. But, I'm not dead and it's a teeny bit creepy having you around” Kendra turns to look at Giles totally passing me.

“I cannot simply leave. I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said all the signs indicate that a very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale” Giles nods in agreement and stands “He's quite right. I'll need to contact him” Giles quickly runs off into his office leaving us all together.

“So what was your plan for fighting this dark power? Just sort of attack people till you found a bad one?” Buffy stands up questioning Kendra with a bitchy tone making me wonder what had happened between the two before I got here.

Kendra looks at Buffy offended “Of course not” Buffy looks at Kendra annoyed “Then why the hell did you jump me?” Buffy shouts throwing her arms up in annoyance “I thought you were a vampire” Kendra tells us sheepishly her facially expression changing for the first time since I met her.

Buffy looks up at Kendra with her jaw clenched “Oooh, a swing and a miss for the rookie” Kendra stands tall as she looks at Buffy “I had good reason to think you were. Did I not see you kissing a vampire?”

Willow gasps shocked as she looks at Kendra “Buffy would never do that! Oh except for that” Willow says looking at Buffy before turning back to Kendra “But only with Angel!” Willow says defending Buffy.

Buffy nods and looks at Kendra “You saw me with Angel. He's a vampire but he's good” she Kendra with a reassuring smile “Angel? You mean Angelus? I've read of him. He is a monster” Kendra retorts making Buffy frown at her angrily as Giles walks out of his office.

“No, no, he's good now” Giles explains to Kendra obviously catching on to what we were talking about, Kendra looks at me confused at how a vampire could be good “He had a gypsy curse” I tell her as she nods slowly “Oh” we all smile thinking she finally understands.

Kendra looks over at me “He had a what?” I let out a small laugh at Kendra manages a small smile “Just trust me, Angel's on the home team now. Wouldn't hurt a fly” Buffy explains to Kendra who had returned to her frowning face.

“I cannot believe you. He looked to me like just another animal when I -” Kendra stops short of a sentence when Buffy looks at her worried “When you what? What did you do to him?” Buffy shouts at Kendra who just looks at us silently “I . . .” Buffy steps closer to Kendra and growls dangerously “What did you do?”


	29. What's My Line?

After finding out Angel hadn't been turned into dust by the sunlight and meeting a creepy guy called Willy, Buffy and I made our way back to the school where Giles, Willow and Kendra were talking about how Kendra was now staying to help us with 'the big evil' that was coming.

Spike has called out the Order of Taraka to keep Buffy and Nikki out of the way” Kendra looks up at Giles “The assassins? I read of them in the writings of Dramius”.  
Giles looks at Kendra shocked “Really? Which volume?” Kendra smiles at Giles “I believe it was six, sir” Giles nods merrily “How do you know that stuff?” Buffy sniffs annoyed.

Kendra turns to Buffy with a smug smile “From my studies” Buffy gives Kendra with a look “So you have a lot of free time” Kendra sighs at Buffy “I study because it is required. The slayer handbook insists on it”

Willow looks at us excitedly “There's a slayer handbook?” Buffy looks at Giles questioningly “Handbook? What handbook? How come I didn't get a handbook?” Buffy rants as I think about the Vampyr book under my bed.

Willow bounces on the spot “Is there a T-shirt too?” We all look at her weirdly “Cause, that would be cool . . .” she stops after seeing our expressions “After meeting you, Buffy, I was quite sure the handbook would be of no use in your case” Giles explains as Buffy looks to him offended.

“What do you mean 'it would be of no use in my case?' What's wrong with my case? So if I didn't get the book who did?” Buffy questioned as I coughed slightly and raised my hand.

“Buffy I believed Nikki would benefit from the handbook more than you would have” Giles stuttered looking between the two of us awkwardly, “Kendra perhaps you could show me the bit in Dramius six about the Order of Taraka. I must admit, I could never get through that book”.

Kendra nodded and smiled “Yes, it was difficult. All those footnotes!” They both looked at each other and laughed “Hello and welcome to the planet pocket protector” Buffy mutters.

“Oh, Buffy, Nikki. Principal Snyder came snooping around for the two you” Giles told us as Buffy pulled a face “Eeee, the career fair” I sighed heavily remembering the career fair“You'd best make an appearance, I think” Giles advices us making us nod in sync “Right”.

Kendra turns to Giles surprised “They're students here?” Giles nodded as he looked at Kendra “Right. Of course. I'd imagine Buffy's a cheerleader, too” Kendra asks nonchalantly making my sister glare at her accurate portrayal.

“Actually, she gave up cheerleading. It's a funny story, really . . .” Giles told until her saw the serious face Kendra was giving him “Let's go find that book, shall we?”.

I grimaced when Buffy began to whine about Kendra to us, trying to get Buffy's mind over Kendra I suggested we should go and find out what our tests said and what careers we'd be good for until Buffy saw her chosen career of police enforcement which totally put her in another miserable mood.

“Ok so law” Willow shrugged to Buffy with an encouraging smile before turning to me expectantly “Forensic Science or the military for me” I tell them as Buffy looks at me shocked “the military” I nodded “It's because of her natural aggressiveness” Willow whispers “Which is a good thing” she laughs like she didn't mean to say that out loud.

I nodded as I noticed Oz who is standing nearby staring at Willow intently “Don't look now, Will, but Oz is totally checking you out” Willow glances over to Oz “Oh He's just expressing computer nerd solidarity” I nod but look over to Oz again “Really? Then why is he on his way over?” Buffy says with a big smile.

I watch as Oz approaches his eyes not leaving Willow “Hi” he says as I lean over and whisper to her “Told you so” as I walked with Buffy to the law enforcement booth.

A stern looking police woman coughs at us and nods to a sign in sheet, Buffy adds her name and Police lady takes the paper “Listen up and answer when I call your name!” The police lady shouts “Good luck” I tell my sister and walk to my table and sign my name.

Turning I watched as Buffy stood in a group smiling with the other students “Buffy Summers!” I smile when Buffy raises her hands confidently until the police lady draws her gun and aims at Buffy.

“Buffy!” I shout and run through the crowd as Buffy dives for cover “Get down” I shot knocking some of the students over as the police lady beings to shoot at both me and Buffy, watching as the police lady loose concentration I jump up and tackle her to the ground making a few students scream.

The police woman and I are rolling around on the floor as we fought for dominance, grabbing the gun out of her hand I slide it towards Buffy who picks it up, looking back I gasp seeing the police lady draw another gun and points it in my face.

I grimace as she goes to pull the trigger until a foot kicks the gun from her hand I look back up to see Kendra standing ready to kick some ass, I take advantage of the distraction and punch the police lady repeatedly in the face but she manages to throw one at me and knock me away from her.

The police lady grabs a student before Buffy, Kendra or I could stop her and points another gun at his chest “Don't!” Buffy shouts as the police lady begins to back out the lounge tossing the student aside as she runs.

Kendra and I run after her but as we make it outside she's nowhere to be seen “Damn” I said to Kendra who nodded and we began to walk back inside “She's gone” Kendra tells Buffy and I nod looking at Oz whose turned white “Dude you've been shot” I exclaimed as I saw the blood.

People emerge from their hiding spots and begin to look around scared, Jonathan, the hostage kid stands shakily “Was - was that a demonstration?”.

* * *

  
We all walked back to the library letting the teachers calm everyone down after the 'demonstration' I held a ice pack to my face as Kendra, Giles and Willow are doing the post-siege analysis “She was definitely one of the Taraka gang, Giles” Buffy says to Giles as she looks at my face “And way gun happy” I tell him wincing when I put the ice back on my face.

“And this Oz, he's alright?” Giles asks looking at Willow concerned “The paramedic said it was only a scrape, thank goodness-” She's interrupted by Xander and Cordelia who enter the library looking very weird “Down girl-” Buffy says to Kendra.

“Who sponsored career day today the British Soccer Fan Association?” Xander says as he continues to walk into the room “We had a rather violent visit from one of the Order of Taraka-” Giles tries to explain before he's cut off by Xander.

“You want to talk Order of Taraka? We met the king freak of the Order of-” Xander stops as he notices Kendra and begins to stare at her “Forgive me. Xander, Cordelia – this is Kendra. It's very complicated, but she is also a slayer-” Giles tells Xander and Cordelia but Cordelia barely glances at Kendra as she sits “Hi. Nice to meet you”.

Xander moves to Kendra “Welcome. So you're a slayer, huh? I like that in a woman” Kendra can only look at her shoes looking totally flustered “I - I, hope . . . I thank you. I mean, sir . . . I will be of service”.

Xander looks at us confused before turning back to Kendra “Good. Great. It's good to be a giver” Giles clears his throat and we all turn to look at him “This assassin you encountered,Xander. What did he look like?”

Just then Cordelia shrieks as she finds a dead worm in her hair “Like that” Xander says pointing to hyperventilating Cordelia as she looked for more worms “You and bug people, Xander. What's up with that?” Buffy asked.

Xander laughed sarcastically at Buffy before looking serious “But this dude was different than the preying mantis lady. He was a man of bugs. Not a man who was a bug”.  
“The important thing is – everybody's okay. Still, it is quite apparent that we are under serious attack-” Giles says before I nodded and stood “Yeah. These Taraka guys are Uber bad. If Kendra hadn't been there today I would have been toast”

I looked at Kendra and nodded my thanks and she nodded back “I fear the worst is yet to come. I've discovered the remaining keys to Drusilla's cure. The ritual requires her sire and must take place in a church on the night of the new moon-” Giles says making Kendra's head shoot up.

“The new moon? But that is tonight” Giles nods quickly “Exactly. I'm sure the assassins are here to kill Buffy and Nikki before they can put a stop to things” Buffy suddenly stands “They need Drusilla's sire? You mean the vamp that made her?” Buffy says her tone sounding urgent.

“What is it, Buffy?” Willow asks putting her hand on Buffy's arm as Buffy looks at us with a painful look “It's Angel. He's Drusilla's sire”

We all looked at Buffy in shock “Man! That guy got some major neck in his day” Willow hits Xander making him shut up, Buffy turns to Giles desperately “This thingy. This ritual. Will it kill him?”.

Giles nods sadly “I'm afraid so” Buffy turns to me looking scared “We have to do something. We have to find the church where this ritual takes place-” Giles stands quickly “Agreed. And we must work quickly. There are only five hours to sundown”

Willow smiles at Buffy “Don't worry, Buffy, we'll save Angel” I look at them all confused “What about Drusilla, Her and Spike will be unstoppable if she gets that cure” Kendra steps forward and stands by me “I agree our priority must be to stop Drusilla” I look at Kendra who just nods at me.

“Angel's our friend. Except I don't like him” Xander tells Kendra reluctantly “Look, you've got your priorities and I've got mine. Right now, they mesh. You gonna work with me or are you gonna get out of my way?” Buffy tells Kendra

Kendra looks at us for a moment before nodding “I am with you” Buffy nods seriously before looking at me and I nod Good. Cause I've had it. Spike is going down. You can attack me, you can send assassins after me . . . that's just fine. But nobody messes with my boyfriend”

I smile at my sister before grabbing an axe twirling It “Let's kick some ass” walking away to get the weapons ready I hear Willow whisper to Buffy “See natural aggressiveness”.  
  
Standing in Giles' office with Kendra and Buffy I begin to lay out the weapons “And those two, they also know you are Slayers” Kendra asks us nodding to Xander and Cordelia.

I nod my head as Kendra sighs “did anyone explain to you what secret identity means?” Buffy shakes her head “nope. Must be in the handbook. Right after the chapter on personality removal” Buffy says but there's no real bite Buffy is too focused.

I looked at Kendra and shrugged “They already knew about Buffy before I was activated so I had no real choice” Kendra nods and picks up a crossbow “Careful with that thing” I tell her.

Kendra turns to me “Please. I am an expert in all weapons-” As she says it the crossbow goes off in her hand firing an arrow into Giles' lamp.

“Is everything all right?” Giles asks running into the room as we all nod “Yeah, it's okay. Kendra killed the bad lamp” I tell him as Kendra just shrugs “Sorry. This trigger mechanism is different”

“Perhaps when this is over you can show me how to work it” Kendra says with an air of indifference “When this is over, I'm thinking pineapple pizza and teen video fest - possibly something from the Ringwald oeuvre” Buffy says I turn to her with a weird look “Pineapple? More like pepperoni”

Kendra just looks at us “I'm not allowed to watch television. My Watcher says it promotes intellectual laziness” I looked at Kendra with wide eyes “And he says it like it's a bad thing?”  
“Arrrgggghhhh!” We turn to look at we hear Cordelia and Xander scream, Kendra looks at us “Your life is very different than mine” we smile at Kendra “You mean the part where we occasionally have one? Yeah, I guess it is” Buffy says with a small laugh.

Kendra shakes her head “The things you do and have, I was taught distract from my calling. Friends. School. Even family” I turned to Kendra shocked “What do you mean - even family?” Kendra sighs and looks at us.

“My parents - they sent me to my watcher when I was very young” I frowned feeling sympathetic to the girl “How young?” Buffy whispers “I don't remember them, actually. I've seen pictures . . . But that's how seriously the calling is taken by my people. My mother and father gave me to my watcher because they believed that they were doing the right thing for me - and for the world. You see?”

Buffy looks shocked “Oh I'm-” Kendra shakes her head and shuts it down hard “Please. I don't feel sorry for myself. Why should you?” Buffy just frowns and looks at Kendra “It just sounds very lonely”

Kendra looks at Buffy seriously “Emotions are weakness, Buffy. You shouldn't entertain them” I breathed tightly that was something that I believed myself I always tried not to show my emotions to people.

“What? Kendra - my emotions give me power. They're total assets” Buffy says to Kendra who just shrugs “Maybe. For you. But I prefer to keep an even mind” Kendra picks up a dagger and polishes it.

Buffy considers this and then smirks “Huh. I guess that explains it” Kendra looks at Buffy intrigued obviously biting “Explains what?” Buffy just shrugs “When we were fighting. You're amazing. Your technique. It's flawless. Better than mine-”

Kendra nods seriously “I know” Buffy grits her teeth “Still I would have kicked your butt in the end. And you know why? No imagination” Kendra starts polishing the knife a little more intensely “Really? You think so?”

Buffy nods and looks at Kendra “Yep. You're good. But power alone isn't enough. A great fighter goes with the flow. She knows how to improvise. Don't get me wrong, I mean, you have potential-”

Kendra stops polishing “Potential . . .” Kendra puts the weapon down furious and gets in Buffy's face “I could wipe the floor with you right now” Buffy smiles at Kendra and laughs “That would be anger you're feeling”

Kendra looks thrown off “What?” Buffy smiles again and explains “You feel it, right? How the anger gives you fire? A slayer needs that, Hell Nikki has enough of it for the three of us” Buffy says with a laugh as I turn around “Hey I'm not that bad”

Xander enters the office and grabs a book, Kendra instantly goes non-verbal “Scuze me, ladies” he turns to Kendra “Nice knife” Kendra just looks down as Xander leaves.

“I'm guessing dating isn't big with your Watcher either” Buffy says as we continue to check the weapons “I am not permitted to speak with boys” Kendra tells us stoically.

“Unless you're pummelling them, right?” I asked her with a laugh when Buffy suddenly smiles “What?” Kendra asks “Willy. The sleazoid back at the bar” Buffy says aloud.

“You think he'll help us?” I ask her as she smiles deviously “I think we might make him, With my charm, Kendra's knowledge and you... well you just being you I don't think he can say no” I nod before thinking “I'm not that bad” I shout causing a knife to hit the wall next to her head making Kendra look at me nervously “Oh yeah about that...”

* * *

  
Grabbing Willy I throw his against the wall “Honest! I don't know where Angel is!” Willy says holding his hands up in surrender “How about this ritual tonight? What have you heard?” I ask pushing him into the wall harder.

“Nothing. It's all hush hush-” Willy says but it stopped by Kendra “Just hit him, Nikki” She says impatiently “They like to hit” Buffy smiles at Willy wickedly   
“You know, maybe I did hear something about this ritual. Yeah . . . It's coming back to me . . . But I'd – I'd have to take you there” I let Willy down and Buffy drags him towards the door “Let's go” Kendra hesitates.

“First, we must return to the watcher” Kendra says looking at Buffy annoyed “Excuse me? While we run to Giles, the whole thing could go down-” Buffy says to Kendra angrily “But, it is procedure-”

Buffy looses her cool “It's brainless, you mean! If we don't go now - Angel could be history” Kendra looks at Buffy surprised “Is that all you're worried about? Your boyfriend?” Buffy shakes her head “It's not all. But it's enough”.

Kendra nods in acceptance “It's as I feared. He clouds your judgement. We can't stop this ritual alone-” Buffy looks at me desperately “He'll die-” Kendra finally loses her patience “He's a vampire. He should die! Why am I the only person who see it?”

Buffy's face goes cold “I'm going. With you or without you” Kendra looks at Buffy in clear shock “You're crazy. You'll be killed” Buffy just smiles sarcastically “Then I guess this is goodbye”

“Three of us is better than two” I tell her as she looks at me upset “Fine” she says as she grabs Willy and walks away, running back to the library I stopped “What's wrong?” Kendra says as she stops by me.

I sigh “I can't walk away from her, we're twins, it's ride or die” I turn to Kendra “Go get Giles and the others” Kendra looks at me confused “I'm not sure if you're brave or stupid” I laughed and began to run back to Buffy “me either” I shout back.

Reaching for the door Buffy led Willy through I opened it and began to walk down the stairs listening silently I could hear my sister and Spike talking “Patrice” Spike shouts, reaching for door I growled when it was locked.

Standing back I kicked at the door and it flew of it's hinges revealing me to the whole church “Knock knock” I said sarcastically and Buffy looked at me with relief written all over her face as she hits the assassins away from her.

Running over to Spike as he gets up I stand by Buffy whose ready to fight, Spike looks at me with a smirk “Why hello love nice to see you again” I grab Spike by the shirt and punch him sending him into Buffy who jabs him.

“It's your lucky day, Spike” she taunts as Kendra comes bouncing through the door “Three slayers” I tell him smugly, running in front of Patrice I frown when she extends her arms down and a blade slides out from each sleeve.

Patrice thrusts one blade, then the other at me but I catch her arms and holds them up while kneeing Patrice stomach and follow up with a kick to her face and sends her stumbling back into the wall.

Patrice gets back up and comes for me she quickly ducks a kick and lunges at me with her blades but I block her, She swings at my face with one blade but I duck out of the way. I growl and punch Patrice in the face and sends her staggering back into the wall again.

I look to see Kendra struggling with Spike “Buffy!” I shout and Buffy looks up and sees my nodding to Kendra “Switch!” she calls and bends over letting Kendra roll over her back.

Turning back I see Patrice up and she quickly lands a blow to my face, stepping back I held my face and breathed deeply in anger “Ok” I say running at Patrice I kick her in the back of the knee before grabbing her by the arm and throwing her into a cabinet smashing it and knocking Patrice out.

“Bitch” I growl out holding my face for the second time today, turning I saw Kendra fighting a vamp who has a knife in his hand he swings at Kendra twice but misses both times when Kendra ducks, He swings again and this time slashes her in the arm, Kendra grabs her wound and looks down at it.

“Dat's me favourite shirt! Dat's me only shirt!” She says as she grabs him and lands a few punches on his face before throwing him to the ground and driving a stake through his heart.

Kendra and the gang run over to me as Spike takes a torch and throws it into a pile of old drapes, setting them ablaze “Look out!” Xander shouts pointing to the fire, Spike unstraps Drusilla from Angel he lifts her into his arms and starts down the aisle.  
  
Buffy crawls over to Angel and cradle him to her, I looked over to see Spike making his escape and I see the censer from the altar bringing up my hand I telekentically launch it at Spike where it hits him in the back of the head, and he stumbles into the church organ.

“Nice aim” Kendra compliments, a moment later the organ superstructure collapses onto Spike and Drusilla completely covering them, Kendra runs over and crouches down next to Buffy and Angel helping them out of the church.

* * *

 

Smiling as we walked Kendra to her taxi “Tank you for de shirt, it was very generous of you” I nod and grin “Hey, it looks better on... well, me, but no worries. Now, when you get to the airport...”

“I get on de plane with me ticket, and sit in a seat. Not de cargo hold” Kendra recites “Very good” Buffy says laughing “Dat is not travelling under cover” Kendra sighs and looks at us conflicted.

Buffy nods smiling “Exactly. Relax! You earned it. Sit in your seat, you eat your   
peanuts, you watch the movie, well, unless it's about a dog or Chevy Chase” Kendra looks confused but nods anyway “I'll remember”

As Kendra opens the door Buffy sighs “I, um... I just wanted to thank you... for helping me save Angel” Kendra smiles coyly “Mm. Am not tellin' me Watcher about dat. It is too strange dat a Slayer loves a vampire”

I smirk “Tell me about it. I don't think I could ever fall for a vamp” Buffy shrugs “Well, maybe they won't fire me for dating him” Buffy says quietly “You always do dat” Kendra tells Buffy “Do what?” Buffy asks confused.

“You talk about slaying like it's a job. It's not. It's who you are” Kendra says with a small smile “Did you get that from your handbook?” Buffy asks rolling her eyes but Kendra shakes her head “From you two” .

Buffy smiles “I guess it's something we really can't fight, we're freaks” Kendra smiles at us “Not de only freaks any more” Buffy makes a move to hug Kendra, but she backs away.

“I don't hug” Kendra says and Buffy nods quickly “Right. No. Good. Hate hugs” Kendra smiles at us and gets into the cab, we wave as it away, I look at Buffy and smile “You like her now” Buffy looks at me and pushes me playfully “Shut up”.

* * *

 

**A/N: Okay so this chapter was originally 3 chapter so I just smushed them together which was hard for me as I'm very bad at cutting things from chapters.**   
**This was definitely very different from usual 1000 ish word chapters as they're is like 4000+ words but I'm not sure if that was better?**

 


	30. Ted

I walked quietly down the street in behind of my friends we had just been hanging out, Willow and Xander are walking in front of me on the way to my house arguing and Buffy was in ahead of us all.

Buffy gets out her key and reaches up to put it in the door lock when she pushes on it to insert it the door just swings in.

My heart drops and Buffy looks at me concerned "You guys wait here a second" I growled walking into the house until I hear a glass break and mom cry out.

"No!" mom screams, Buffy and I rush through the kitchen door "Mom!" We scream seeing our mom kissing a man, they break off their kiss, and we all stare awkwardly at each other.

"Oh, my..." Buffy says in shock "I'm sorry, I... I heard..." I stuttered as I looked at her and the guy.Mom smoothed out her hair "Uh, I-I-I broke a wine glass. Y-y-you're home early" she says to us as the guy smiles and waves at us "Hi," he says smiling brightly.

"Hi," we say back "Oh! Uh, these are my twins, Buffy and Nikki" Mom says to the man "Girls this is Ted" Buffy turns to look at me unsure how to react.

After going to get Xander and Willow from the porch mom had invited them to stay for dinner and Ted was cooking for us. I was sat on the bar stool as Buffy stands by the door with mom.

"Okay, here we go!" Ted says handing us a mini pizza each, eating mine I had to admit he was a great cook."Sprinkle that on..." Ted says as he sprinkles cheese on our pizzas "Uh, a little more. Okay, more..." Xander says eating his pizza.

"I like my new nine-Gig hard drive," Willow says to Ted after she found out he sells computer stuff "But you don't love it, 'cause without the DMA upgrade your computer's only half a rocket ship," Ted says nodding.

"Yeah, but who can afford the upgrades?" Willow says sighing "Well, you can! I get the demos for free, I don't see why I shouldn't give 'em to you for the same price! Any friend of Buffy and Nikki's" Ted says happily.

Willow squeals "What?" Ted says looking at me for help "Oh, that's the sound she makes when she's speechless with geeker joy" I tell him with a smile.

"Can I just say, this is the finest pizza ever on God's green Earth. What is your secret?" Xander says with a mouthful of pizza.

"Well, after you bake it, you fry it in herbs and olive oil, but you gotta use a cast-iron skillet. No room for compromise there" Ted says knocking on the bottom of the pan.

"Y'know, you should market these things. I mean, you can get two, three hundred bucks a piece!" Xander tells Ted shoving the pizzas in his mouth.

Ted laughs at that and takes the plate with the pizzas over to Buffy "Hungry?" he asks her but she just shakes her head "No, thanks" Ted sighs and puts down the plate.

"Nikki, Buffy, I want to apologize. That wasn't how I wanted us to meet I wanted it to be perfect. I'm very fond of your mother, I guess that's pretty obvious. I know you two the most important things in her life, and, well, gosh, that makes you pretty important to me, too" Ted says smiling at us.

Mom stands next to Ted "Girls, I really want you to be okay with this" Mom pleads looking at us "Beg to differ we really want you to be okay with this" Ted says wrapping his arm around mom.

"I'm okay" Buffy mutters "You are?" Mom asks shocked "We are" Mom and Ted look at me "Just don't hurt her" Ted nods "or I'll be swimming with the fishes right?" I just laughed sarcastically "You have no idea".

* * *

 

Walking through the hall at school the next day the subject again had turned to Ted again "Did you even bother to taste 'em? Nooo! Well, I did, and I'm here to tell ya those mini pizzas have changed my life! Ted is the master chef! I mean even Nikki tried them and she's the most anti-social person I've met" Xander says pointing at me.

I looked at him with a glare "I mean that in a nice way it's uh cool you're protective of us, that why we're not dead yet.. thank you" Xander says hugging me.

Buffy sighs "Fine! So he's a good cook. Well, what does that really tell you about a person?" I rolled my eyes at my sister "Everything" Xander shouts at her defending Ted.

Willow looks at Buffy softly "You don't like him?" Buffy shrugs and sighs "I don't know him. I, I mean, so far all I see is someone who apparently has a good job, seems nice and polite. I can't believe you've not said a thing" Buffy says looking at me.

I looked at Buffy seriously "She's happy Buffy that's all that matters to me" Buffy nods sadly "Mom really likes him" Xander looks and Buffy weirdly "What kind of a monster is he?" he says sarcastically.

"I'm just saying there's something a little too clean about this clown," Buffy tells us, Willow giggles to herself "He's a clean clown!" She senses our stares and looks up "I have my own fun" We stop at the vending machines "Buff, you're lacking evidence.I think maybe we're in Sigmund Freud territory," Xander says putting his coins into the machine and I press the button for him knowing what he'd get.

"He has a point. Separation anxiety, the mother figure being taken away, conflict with the father figure" I nodded at Willow as Buffy growled at them "He's not my father figure"Xander looked at Buffy "Having issues much?" Buffy pouts "I am not!".

Xander does a funny dance, pointing both fingers at us and teases in a sing-song voice You're having parental issues, you're having parental issues..."Xander..." I growl looking at my friend "What? Freud would've said the exact same thing except he might not have done that little dance" I rolled my eyes and took the can away from him and drank it "Hey" he called.

"Okay, I admit it's weird. Seeing my mother frenching a guy is definitely a ticket to therapy land, but it's more than that. I'm pretty good at sensing what's going on around me, and there is definitely something wrong with this... Ted" Buffy spits out.

I spot Ted coming down the stairs "Ted!" I say loudly and Buffy looks at me confused "Of course, Ted. Who'd you think I was talking about?" Xander shakes his head with a smile "Hi, Ted! Ted, who's here" Xander explains to Buffy "Hello, kids!" Buffy and Willow turn to face Ted.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asks Ted almost accusingly "I'm updating the software in the guidance office. Which reminds me" Ted pulls several discs from his pocket and hands them to Willow "your upgrades"Willow takes the discs "Oh, what a day! Thank you!" Buffy gives Willow a look.

"Think nothing of it. Girls, do you like miniature golf?" Ted says smiling at Buffy and me, Xander puts his arms across our shoulders "Who doesn't!" he laughed "Well, your mother and I were thinking maybe this Saturday we could drag the four of you out to the course, spend some time swinging the iron with the stuffy old people." Ted smiles again.

"Well, uh..." Buffy stutters "I'm making a picnic basket" Ted adds looking at us "With mini pizzas?" Xander asks looking wide eyes "And cookies!" Ted says winking at me mom had obviously told him my love for cookies.

Xander inhales in wide-eyed "You know what, we, we would love to, honestly, but, um, unfortunately, we have that thing on Saturday" Buffy says looking at Willow for support.

"Oh, that thing. That thing" Willow agrees "Hey, we can do that thing anytime. I'm tired of doing that thing. We're on!" Xander tells Ted who smiles widely at us "Great!" He tells us happily "Yeah great" Buffy mutters annoyed.

* * *

 

I laughed as I swing my mini golf club, I was actually having a good time "Ah, the dreaded five-par cuckoo clock. Ha! So many have come, so few have conquered" Xander says jokingly.

"That picnic was delicious" Mom tells Ted "You know how rare it is to find a man that cooks?" Mom as with a happy smile.

"So, Nikki, Buffy, I bet the boys are lined up around the block tryin' to get a date with you," Ted says smiling at Buffy and me.

"Not really" Buffy mutters at Willow nods quickly "Oh, they are, but she's only interested in..." Buffy quickly nudges Willow "uh, her studies! 'Book-cracker Buffy', it's kind of her nickname".

"Well, glad to hear it. I bet that means your grades will be picking up soon" Ted says to Buffy "My grades?" Buffy asks shocked.

"So Nikki your mom say your usually very untrusting well I just wanted to say thank you for trusting me with your mother," Ted says smiling at me as he swings his club I just nod at him "Like I said I just want her to be happy".

Walking to the next hole Buffy is ready to take her shot "Keep your eye on the ball. Watch those elbows!" Ted says but she swings a bit too hard, and the ball ricochets off of the castle and into the rough behind it.

"Oh! Bad luck, little lady!" Ted says as Buffy starts over to her ball"Oh, we won't count it" mom says supportively "We won't?" Ted says turning to look at mom.

"Well, it's just miniature golf," Mom says smiling "It is, but the rules are the rules and what we teach her is what she takes out into the world when we're not there, whether it's at school or an unchaperoned party," Ted says to mom.

"I don't mean to overstep my bounds, this is between you and your mother, I just think right is right" Mom nods at Ted's words "He has a point" Buffy grits her teeth at them "Fine. I'll just go hit my ball from the rough"Buffy walks away and Ted follows her.

"So what do you think of Ted?" mom whispers to me but I shrug "He seems cool, just as long as your okay," I tell her unsure.

"Hey, how 'bout that! Got a hole in two!" Buffy calls from behind the castle we all began to walk to Buffy whose now glaring at Ted "Who's up for dessert? I made chocolate-chip cookies!" Ted grins.

Mom opens the zip-lock bag of cookies "Yummy!" Xander says grabbing a handful "Cookies!" Willow says excitedly, putting my hand into the bag I look at my sister's face and stop.

"What wrong Nikki, you're mom said you love cookies" Ted said smiling at me but something felt wrong my head was beginning to tingle putting my hand on my head I groaned "Um I just don't feel too good" mom looked at me concerned but I just looked at Buffy who looked like she could cry.

* * *

 

Waking up the next morning I trudge downstairs where mom and Buffy were stood "Hey baby you feeling any better" I smiled and nodded a little "Okay well I've got juice, I've got sticky buns, oh, don't they smell good!" Buffy picks up part of a bun "Ted made them."Mom says as Buffy puts it back down.

"What?" mom asks when Buffy pulls a face "I'd just like to eat something around here that Ted didn't make" Mom sighs "Oh, what kind of an attitude is that?"Buffy exhales heavily "Look, Mom, I know you think he's great and all, but I...".

Mom pours me some juice "Y'know, he went out of his way to be nice to you, and you couldn't say two words to him on Saturday" Mom says as she looks at Buffy."I do not expect you to love him right away like I do, but I do expect you to treat him decently".

Buffy looks at mom in shock "You love him?" mom looks over at us "I-I don't know that just slipped out but I guess, I mean, it's not exactly like men beat down the door when you're a single..." Mom stops in her sentence short.

"When you're a single parent" Buffy whispers looking sad "Girls, look I wouldn't have anything to do with anybody if they didn't care about you. But he does! I don't understand why you can't see that!" Mom says looking at Buffy.

"He threatened me," Buffy tells us "What?" mom asks in disbelief "He threatened me. He said that he was gonna slap my face" Buffy told us as I looked at her worried.

"He said no such thing! Honey, Ted told me what happened. He caught you cheating, didn't he?" Mom tuts at Buffy "Yeah, I kicked my ball in, put me in jail, but he totally wigged!" Buffy shouts at her.

"And he didn't say anything about it in front of the others, did he?" Mom said to Buffy knowingly "Uh, no, but I don't think that's the..." Buffy mutters looking at the ground.

"Well, I thought that that was pretty decent of him! Ted said we are just gonna have to give you time to come around. Oh, speaking of which, he's making dinner for us tonight, so I'd like you at home, please," Mom says to Buffy before looking at me "promptly at six".

Buffy gives mom a look and stalks out of the kitchen with me following her "I believe you" I told her making tears come to her eyes "Whenever I'm around him my senses just go out of wack. So how do we prove he's up to no good"

* * *

 

Willow, Buffy, Xander and I are walking across the quad "What do you mean, check him out?" Buffy sighs annoyed."I mean investigate him. Find out his secrets, hack into his life" Buffy asks Willow as Xander scoffs "Can you say 'overreaction'?".

Buffy just glares at Xander "Can you say 'sucking chest wound'?" Willow sighs and looks at us "Buffy, it just seems like you want him to be corrupt, or something" Buffy looks at Willow upset "The guy lost his senses over mini-golf".

Xander shrugs still eating his cookies "So he's a little uptight. Last I heard that's not a slaying offense" Buffy and I give Xander a look "Don't gimme the look, I'm on your side. I'm just saying there are some things in life you have to accept"Buffy, Willow and I sit on a bench.

"I'm beginning to think Ted ain't one of 'em" I mutter rubbing my temples "Hey, Cordy! Nice outfit" Xander calls to Cordelia who stops and looks at him "Oh, very funny".

"Not really," Xander tells Cordelia "What are you saying?" she asks "Nice outfit?" Xander tries again as we all stare at him weirdly.

"Well, why don't you just keep your mouth shut!" Cordelia shouts at Xander walking off "Would you guys excuse me for a sec?" Xander says running after Cordelia.

"What's up with them?" Willow asks " I have no idea" I mutter with a raised eyebrow."Anyway Will, I'm not wrong here. Ted has a problem with me. He acts like I'm in the way or something he's never been off with Nikki and Mom's been totally different since he's around" Buffy mummers with a frown.

"Different, like happy?" Willow asks looking at Buffy who nodded "Like Stepford. Will you help me?" Willow nods at us softly "You know I will. What do you want me to look for?" I smiled at Willow "Let's start small. Can you find out where he works?" Willow nods.

* * *

 

Sitting at the dinner table I glared at Ted, Buffy had gone to where he works and found out he was planning to marry mom and get Buffy out of the way.

She told me about the creepy picture of mom and me on his desk like he's trying to create a perfect family and obviously Buffy wasn't part of his plans.

Ted begins to say grace "We thank you for what we are about to receive, and we ask that you bless this house, and help the people in it to be more productive, more considerate and more honest. Amen"Ted and mom lay their napkins in their laps.

"Well, another great day at work! How was school today, Girls? Did you learn anything?" Ted says looking at Buffy and I. Buffy just smirked "Quite a bit" Ted nodded happily "Good for you! Well, Joycie, what do you think?" Mom swallowed her food "I think every home should have one of you. It's fantastic!".

Mom turns to us "Don't you think?" Ted smiles over at us "Looks good" I muttered making Ted grin at me "Well, you know, princess, it's not just for looks, it's for building strong bodies".Buffy just sits there staring at Ted "Honey?" mom says to Buffy "Are you two engaged?" Ted's head shoots in Buffy's direction.

"Goodness, no! Whatever gave you that idea?" Mom asked Buffy with a small laugh, Ted turns to mom"Now, Joycie, let me handle this. Buffy, your mother and I are taking it one step at a time. And if things go the way I hope, maybe someday soon I just might ask her to tie the knot. How would you feel about that?" Buffy sat in silence not answering his question.

"It's okay to have feelings, Girls, and it's okay to express them," Ted said to us"I'd feel like killing myself," Buffy said out loud shocking our mom "Buffy!".

"No, no, I, I told her to be honest," Ted said smiling at our mom "Sweetheart, you should try and get used to me, 'cause you know what? I'm not going anywhere" I glared hearing the threat in his voice.

"May I be excused?" Buffy asks through gritted teeth "You can go to your room, young lady, that's where you can go" mom tells Buffy with a sigh, Buffy gets up and leaves the table without another word.

"Ted, I.. I am so embarrassed! I-I-I don't know what's wrong with her!" Mom says looking at Ted "Joycie, you don't get to be salesman of the year by giving up after a couple of rejections. She'll come 'round".T

They both turn to me "Why don't you eat up Princess" Ted says as he looks down at my untouched plate "Sweetie?" Mom says "Are you feeling unwell again?" I just nodded "I'm going to go lie down," I told them "Rest well my Princess" I heard Ted say from behind me.

* * *

 

Opening my eyes I yawned I must have fallen asleep, getting up to change into my bed clothes I heard a bang from Buffy's room, jumping up I ripped the door open and saw Ted holding my sister up by her collar.

"Hey!" I shout as I punch him, Buffy kicked Ted making him fall against her door, Ted grabs Buffy he picks her up by the shirt collar again but she kicks him in the shin.

Mom comes to the door "Buffy! Stop that!" I elbow him in the face "Stop it!" Mom screams again as I kick Ted in the chest, making him stagger back out into the hall, where mom holds onto Buffy.

Following Ted I punch him in the face as he trips down to the end of the hall before regaining his balance and hits me making me stagger back into the wall, Seeing red I quickly roundhouse kicked him with all the strength I had making him fall down the stairs, tumbling to the bottom.

Mom goes running down the stairs and Buffy wraps her arms around me "Ted..." Mom cries as she tries to shake him awake "Ted! Ted!"Buffy and I slowly descend the stairs as Mom looks up at me "You killed him!" I stare down at Ted's unmoving body, not believing what just happened.

* * *

 

I sat on the stairs as Ted's body is being zipped up into a body bag, Mom watches as the coroners wheel Ted's body away "He fell. Down the stairs, he fell" Mom says to the Detective.

"I see. Uh, did he slip? Do you know what made him fall?" The Detective asked looking around "I hit him, I hit him" I whispered trying not to break.

The Detective drove us to the police station so he could take our statements and other things, I sat in an interrogation room with Buffy "He was in my room. And we got into an argument" Buffy told the Detective who wrote down what we said.

"About what?" Detective Stein asked, "He, um..." Buffy said looking down at the table "Was this the first time that you two had had an argument?" Detective Stein asked again making Buffy look up at him.

"No. He threatened me. He, he said that he would slap me" Buffy whispered to him"That was tonight" Detective Stein questioned "No. But he had my diary, and I-I tried to take it back, a-and that's when he hit me".

"Where?" Detective Stein questioned looking at Buffy, Buffy raises her hand to indicate her right cheek "Well, it doesn't look like he hit you very hard" The detective scoffs."We don't bruise easily" I told him "So you've been hit before?" The Detective asks us "Yes".

"But Ted never hit you" Stein questions as Buffy sighed annoyed, "I told you..." Stein waved his hands"Before tonight, Ted never hit you before tonight?" Buffy shook her head.

"What do you want? I-I told you what happened, I didn't mean to!" I shouted desperately "I believe you. Things get outta hand. He's a big guy" Stein says as he writes some notes on his pad.

"Are you charging her with something?" Mom asks when we're lead out of the interrogation room "We're not bringing anything up against your daughter right now. She says Mr. Buchanan struck her sister and she came to her defense and if that's the case..." Detective Stein said looking at Mom with a shrug.

"Anyway, we've gotta examine it further. Right now I think you should just take her home, and the three of you should try and get some rest" Stein says as Mom nods and leads us out of the police station.

Sitting in Mom's car the silence was deafening I didn't want to talk I couldn't, I turned my head to look out of the window sighing.

* * *

 

The next morning at school Buffy led me down the halls as everyone seems to be looking at us as we slowly make our way to the lounge "Buffy, Nikki!" Xander shouts as he and Willow walk towards us smiling.

"Are you okay?" Xander asks me but I just shake my head "She hasn't talked much since..." Willow nods sadly"How come you're here?".

"We couldn't stay at home" Buffy mutters "Mom won't even look at me," I told Willow as she rubs my shoulder, Xander sits on the table in front of me and rubs my knee comfortingly.

"What happened?" Willow asks before looking at me wide-eyed "Unless you don't want to talk about it" Buffy sighs and looks at me "We had a fight and he hit me" I cleared my throat "I found him hurting Buffy and I lost my temper. I really let him have it."

"The paper said he fell" Willow whispers "He fell. Hard." Buffy muttered, "What was he?" Xander asks me making me look at him confused "What?".

"What was he? A-a demon? A giant bug? Some kind of dark god with the secrets of nouvelle cuisine? I mean, we are talking creature-feature here, right?" I just looked at my hands."Oh man!" Xander says when he realizes.

"But I'm sure it wasn't your fault. He started it" Willow mumbles "Yeah. That defense only works in six-year-old court, Will" I scoffed, Xander looks at me shocked "Court? Wa-wait. Are they charging you with something?".

I just shrugged "I-I don't know. Not yet, he was a person, and I killed him" I said looking at my hands again.

"Don't say that!" Buffy scolds as I look up at her "Why not? Everyone else is. And it's the truth" Xander puts his arm around me "It was an accident".

"I'm a Slayer I had no right to hit him like that," I told them all "Look, I don't know what happened exactly. But I do know you. And I know you would never hurt anyone intentionally. Well, you know, unless..." Xander stops.

"Unless they were dating our mother" Buffy mutters, I looked at Xander who was flabbergasted "I gotta go" running away again.

I quickly walk down the hall and watched as Giles comes out of a classroom nodding to a man standing outside the door "Nikki?" Giles says and I stop in my tracks "Are you alright?" I just look up at Giles and blinked.

"Oh, uh, stupid question, I'm sorry. Look, i-i-if there's anything you need, of course, just, just ask"."What's going on?" I walked towards the classroom with Giles stuttering behind me "Oh, you needn't worry about that. They're just asking a few questions, your, your, your behavior and... um... uh...".

I looked into the room through the door window and see Detective Stein talking with two of my teachers "Of course, I told them you, uh... I..." Giles said to me but I felt like I couldn't breathe so I ran... _again._

* * *

 

Willow and Cordelia are at the library table, Giles is behind them in the cage getting together some weapons with Buffy, and Xander is pacing.

"Man, this is killing me! That bastard was up to something, I know it. If I could just get my hands on him..." Xander says until he sees the look Willow is giving him "Earlier this week".

"I thought you liked him," Cordelia asks as Xander walks over to Cordelia "I sometimes like things that are not good for me. Besides, no way, no how does Nikki put the big hurt on an innocent man. Nice Uncle Ted was dirty".

"We've gotta prove that somehow. Xander, do you have a pen?" Willow says as she looks at the computer in front of her.Giles sets the bag on the table and puts the crossbow in "If Nikki has to go to jail because of that creep I'm gonna lose it. He's gotta be in there, Will. Uh, history of domestic violence, a criminal record?" Buffy says desperately.

Xander opens his satchel and fins ziplock bag "Ooo! Cookies!" Cordelia sighs and looks at everyone "I don't get it. Nikki and Buffy are Slayers. Shouldn't they have...".

"What, a license to kill?" Xander asks as he eats his cookie "Well, not for fun but they're like Superman. Shouldn't there be different rules for them? Cordelia asks frustrated sure Nikki scared the crap out of her from time to time but she was pretty cool.

"Sure, in a fascist society," Willow says "Right! Why can't we have one of those?" Willow just smiles at Cordelia "Nikki's not going to jail. It's not fair".

"Whatever the authorities have planned for her, it can't be much worse than what she's doing to herself. She's taken a human life. The guilt, it-it's, it's pretty hard to bear, and it won't go away soon" Giles says as he puts weapons in his bag.

Cordelia nods at Giles "I guess you should know since you helped raise that demon that killed that guy that time?" Giles looks at Cordelia seriously "Yes. So let's bring that up as often as possible" he says and heads back to the cage.

"Ted's got no criminal record! Damn! This guy's like citizen of the year!" Willow growls as she looks at her computer "Don't sweat it. It'll be fine" Xander says as Willow looks up at Xander weirdly "Don't sweat it?".

"Yeah, cute buddy!" Xander says as he walks over to Willow "We'll work it out!" he says ruffling her hair "No worries!" Cordelia looks over at Xander confused "What happened to 'this is killing me'?" She says as Xander looks at her.

"Worrying isn't gonna solve any problems," Xander says as he shakes his cookies in front of her face, The cookie catches Willow's eye and she grabs it from Xander, breaking off most of it she turns it in her hand as she looks at it.

* * *

 

Standing at the kitchen door I watch as mom is packing away a bunch of baking pans and bowls "Can I help?" I asked my mom quietly.

"It's done. I've been meaning to clean out this junk for months. Do you, uh, have homework?" Mom says not looking at me again "I didn't mean to hurt him" I whispered walking towards her.

"I don't wanna talk about this" mom says turning away from me "Mom, please, you have to know..." I said trying but she just shook her head again.

"I can't, not yet. Please, Nikki, just go to your room" Mom tells me as I watch tears run down her face, turning I ran to my room.

Sitting at my desk facing into the room I sighed and trained with my telekinesis when I heard a noise "Mom?" I call but she doesn't answer me back "The hell with this" Getting up I go to my window and try to lift it but it's stuck in place.

Looking down I see the problem "She nailed it shut. Well, it's official, this day can't get any worse" I mutter turning around and see Ted standing behind me "Beg to differ"I stared at Ted horrified "You died" I whispered as Ted stared at me dangerously "That's right, Princess, you killed me. Do we have something to say about that? Are we sorry?" Ted says to me like it was perfectly normal.

"What are you?" I asked him "I'm a salesman! That's what you should've remembered. No matter how you put him down..." Ted grabs me by my shirt and throws me across the room ...a good salesman always bounces back!"I get to my feet as Ted comes for me, I immediately kick him in the gut and follows up with a left punch to the jaw.

Ted flinches, but doesn't back off, I punch him twice in the stomach and again in the face but he isn't fazed.Suddenly he grabs me by the throat and backs me into and over my desk, pinning me against the wall "You see I had to shut down for a while. You should've seen the interns face when I got up off the table, it was a hoot! Fun's over, though" Ted says as he laughs maniacally.

He wraps his other hand around my throat and begins to squeeze, I look over at my nightstand for anything to use as a weapon and reach for my nail file that's lying there.

Grabbing it I stab Ted in the left forearm slicing it open as he jerks back, with the pressure gone I collapse to the floor "That wasn't playing fair, missy!" Ted says as he grabs his left wrist and looks down at the wound there are torn wires and sparks and smoke coming from it.

"You're gonna find..." His head jerks to the right "Hell of a day! Makes you feel like you're eighteen again!" his head jerks back "...that I don't like being disobeyed!".

Looking to my door I hear the sound of the door closing downstairs, realizing my mom is still down there I try to get up but Ted quickly turns to me and kicks me in the jaw.

* * *

 

Groaning I opened my eyes "Son of a bitch" I growled before standing and walking to my door but it was locked "Shit" I swore standing back I swung my foot up kicking out the doorknob.

Creeping downstairs I looked around the walls trying to see if I could see Ted, walking past the pantry I leaned in and grabbed the cast-iron pan he loved so much "Nikki, come out! I don't stand for this kind of malarkey in my house!" I heard Ted call.

I stood behind Ted as he walked into the kitchen "Uncle Teddy?" Ted turns to face me as I swing the pan up and Ted flies back hitting the floor hard "This house is mine!".

Ted rolls around to face me I grimace when I see some of the skin has been torn from his lips and left cheek, revealing the metal underneath, Ted stands back up "Nikki? How about a nice game of Parcheesi?" I raise the pan and slam it down onto his head just as Buffy comes running through the door.

Ted falls backward and convulses on the floor as his circuits begin to overload he finally crashes, and his eyelids jerk open in a dead stare.

I look at my handiwork in satisfaction "Guess you weren't wired that way" I whispered as Buffy wraps her arm around me comfortingly "I'm sorry" she whispered as she pulled me closer.

* * *

 

Back at school the next day Xander, Buffy, Willow, Cordelia and I walk together "So, I'm Ted, the sickly loser. I'm dying and my wife dumps me. I build a better Ted" Xander says.

"He brings her back, holds her hostage in his bunker'o'love until she dies. And then he keeps bringing her back, over and over. Now, now that's creepy on a level I hardly knew existed" we all frowned at Xander's words.

"The sad part is the real Ted must've been a genius. There were design features in that robot that pre-date..." Willow starts "Willow, tell me you didn't keep any parts"Willow looks at us "Not any big ones" we all smirk at Willow "Oh, Will, you're supposed to use your powers for good!" Buffy says teasing the small redhead.

"I just wanna learn stuff" Willow mutters sadly.Cordelia gives Willow a weird look "Like how to build your own serial killer?" Willow frowns "Uh, it's so hard to rent one nowadays," Xander says clicking his fingers sarcastically.

"Can we just drop the subject?" Cordelia moans "Absolutely. I plan to forget the whole thing and pick up right where we left off" I smile as we look into the library through the round door windows and immediately turn around and leave.

"Okay! That's it! I give up! Do I have to sound an air horn every time I walk into a room?" I groan as I walk off "I mean, what is it with grown-ups these days?" I say as I try to get the image of Giles and Jenny kissing out of my memory.

 


	31. Bad Eggs

Buffy, Mom and I were shopping in Sunnydale Mall where Buffy had found an outfit she wanted "Come on, Mom, please?" Buffy begged.

"I'm sorry honey," mom said shaking her head "Don't you understand how important this is?" Buffy says making me roll my eyes she only wants the outfit to impress Angel no doubt.

"It's an outfit. An outfit that you may never buy" Mom tells Buffy "But I looked good in it" Buffy sighs with a pout "You looked like a streetwalker" Mom shoots back making me snort.

Buffy glared at me before turning to mom "But a thin streetwalker" Mom looked at Buffy shocked "That's probably not gonna be the winning argument, is it?" Buffy asks looking defeated.

Mom sighs and stops "You're just too young to wear that" Buffy frowns "Yeah, and I'm gonna be too young to wear it until I'm too old to wear it"

"That's the idea" Mom agrees "The stores are closing, and I still need to order the flyers for the opening" Mom sighs reaching into her pocket and pulls out a slip of paper.

"Okay. I'll go to the printers, Nikki you go to the food court and Buffy you go to the tailor and pick up my outfit from Everyday Woman" Mom says handing Buffy her receipt slip.

Buffy looks at the paper "Everyday Woman?" she says with disgust "Mm-hm. There's the receipt" mom points at the paper "Why didn't you just go to Muu-Muus R Us?" Buffy replies sassily.

"Do now, make fun of your mother later" Mom tell us as she walks off, getting on the escalators I waited to get to the ground floor, I look around and smirked seeing a cowboy and a girl "Howdy" I laugh as he tips his hat at me.

My smirk soon drops when I notice that the cowboy's reflection is missing from the mirrors that line the escalator corridor, Immediately I turn and spot Buffy walking on the upper floor.

"Buffy" I call knowing that she'd hear me with our Slayer hearing, Buffy turns to look at me and I point at the cowboy and put my finger on my mouth like fangs.

Buffy's face drops and she nods "On it!" she calls and runs to the vampire sighing I turned to the food court to order our food before mom comes back.

Waiting for the food I looked around for my sister who still hadn't come back, I don't know what's keeping her honestly it looked like stake and run job to me.

Picking up the tray I sat at the cleanest table I could find, hearing someone sit down I turned with a smile expecting to find Buffy but I saw the irritated face of my mother "Where's Buffy?".

Trying to think of an excuse I sighed gratefully when Buffy finally sat with us "Oh, bliss mall food" Buffy smiled as Mom looks at her expectantly "Buffy?" Buffy looks up confused "Mom?".

"Where's my dress?" Buffy frowns looking confused "Your dr...? Oh. Oh, God" she winces as mom looks at her annoyed.

"Let me guess: you were distracted by a boy," Mom asks Buffy with a peeved sigh"Technically" Buffy replies with a cringe as Mom leans back in her chair "Buffy..."

Buffy exhales "Look, I-I can go get it right now" mom shakes her head "They're closed. I'll just have to fit it in tomorrow" she says with a frown and Buffy looks down "Sorry".

"A little responsibility is all I ask. Honestly, don't you ever think about anything besides boys and clothes?" Mom says sternly "Saving the world from vampires?" Buffy says as I glare at her.

Mom crosses her arms "I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes on in your head." Buffy and I look at each other sadly.

**††††††**

Smiling at Willow as she talks to her egg I frown when I see Buffy coming into the library "Buffy! How come you weren't in class?" I asked looking at her concerned "Long night and Vampire issues" Buffy says as she walks closer to us.

"Did Mr. Whitmore notice I was tardy?" She asked us as I give her a smile "I think the word you're searching for is 'absent'" I mocked as Willow nodded "Tardy people show"

"And, yes, he did notice, so he wanted me to give you this," I say as I hand her an egg, Buffy grabs the egg and look at it weirdly "As far as punishments go this is fairly abstract".

Willow smiles at her "No, it's your baby!" I looked at her and nodded with smile "Okay, I get it even less" she tells us.

Xander shows Buffy his egg which he strokes gently "Well, you know, it's the whole 'sex leads to responsibility' thing, which I personally don't get. You gotta take care of the egg. It's a baby. You gotta keep it safe and teach it Christian values"

Willow looks at Xander "My egg is Jewish" Xander nods at her "Then teach it that Dreidel song" Willow smiles at that.

I looked at my egg in a new light and panic set in "I can't do this! I can't take care of things! I killed Buffy's Giga Pet when we were kids I sat on it and it broke"

Buffy looks at me shocked "That was you?" I looked at her seriously "Of course it was me, mine kept dying and I was jealous but sitting on it was an accident" Buffy sat the egg down on top of the shelving cart and pouted "You're right, I cant do this either".

"You'll do fine!" Willow says smiling at us "Yeah, the only thing that stresses me is when do we tell them that they're adopted?" Xander jokes "I'll just lay that one off on my partner" Buffy smiles before looking up at us worried "Who'd I get?".

I grimaced as she looked at me "Well, there was an uneven number of students, and you didn't show, so..." Buffy looked at her egg "I'm a single mother?".

We all nod "No man of her own" Xander mutters "Do you know what this says about me? That I am doomed to lead my mother's life!" Buffy paces upset.

"Why didn't you partner up with me?" Buffy glares at me "Well Mark asked me to partner with him..." I looked at my sister guiltily "Great you get a good looking partner and I'm the single parent. Thanks, sis" Buffy says sarcastically.

"Success!" Giles shouts as he comes out the cage with a book "At last. Your playmate is a fellow of repute, it seems" He moves to set the book on top of Buffy's egg making her inhale in fright and quickly snatch it away.

Giles points out a picture in the book to Buffy "That's, um, Lyle Gorch, and that one's his brother, Tector. They're from Abilene. They, uh, they made their reputation by massacring an entire Mexican village in 1886" Gile says as he takes off his glasses.

"Friendly little demons" Buffy nods sarcastically "That was before they became vampires," Giles says "B-but, um, the good news is that they're... not amongst the great thinkers of our times. I doubt if they're up to much. They're probably just drawn here by the, uh, Hellmouth's energy"

Giles stated as he puts his glasses back on "'Nuff said! I propose Buffy and Nikki slays 'em. All in favor?" Xander says and raises his hand, Willow nods and raises her hand too "Aye!"

"I-I don't think you should underestimate them. I mean, y-you may need to have some help if, if, if, if..." Giles begins before he looks at our eggs "Why do you all have eggs?" Willow smiles at Buffy with a twinkle in her eye "Hey, maybe you can have Angel help you find the Gorches"

"Yes! Yes, yes, that's not a bad idea. Strength in numbers" Giles agrees "Oh, right. I see a lotta hunting getting done in that scenario" Xander says sarcastically as I smirk.

"Please. Like Angel and I are just helpless slaves to passion. Grow up!" Buffy shouts as we all look at each other with knowing smiles "Right"

**† † † † † †**

Hearing my alarm I groan and ran a hand through my hair "urggh" sitting up I look at my egg which is still sat where I left it last night "Morning Eggy" I mutter as I get up to go shower and change.

Walking downstairs I bumped into Buffy on the way down "So how was patrol last night?" Buffy just smiled at me "Amazing" she sighed happily and I groaned "I knew it".

Walking into the kitchen Buffy and I set our eggs down on the island and I walk around to where mom once sat and take a sip of her coffee as I sit down.

Mom brings toast over to the island on a plate "At least eat something if you're gonna drink that" Mom pleads but I shake my head.

"Not that hungry" I mutter as mom looks at me concerned before pointing our eggs "How's the parenting going?" I sigh and drink my coffee "Fine" I mutter as Buffy eats her toast.

"Are you sure your eggs are secure in that?" mom says looking at basket which held our eggs "Did I ask for backseat mommying?" I snap "Are we a little touchy this morning?" mom mocks.

"No, I just feel all funky," I said making Buffy nod "Me too" she muttered "Hmm," mom said as she put her hand on mine and Buffy's head "You don't have fevers"

"Oh, no, it's not that, I just... I didn't sleep well" Buffy says as mom takes her hand back "Your egg keep you up all night?" Mom grins.

Buffy gives our mom a look "You're killing me. Parenting's a pain!" mom straightens up and smirks "Wait till it starts dating".

Buffy lets out an exasperated breath, picks up her egg and leaves, I kiss mom's cheek before following my twin out the house.

**† † † † † †**

Standing by the stairs the library we watch as Giles is returning some books to the shelves. He walks out from behind the stacks and notices us looking up at him from the bottom of the steps.

"Oh! Why are you four hanging about? Don't you have classes to go to?" Giles says reading the back of a book "Teen health got canceled" Willow tells him "Mr. Whitmore's out. Couldn't find an egg sitter or something" Xander says with a laugh.

"Well, then, can you give me a hand?" Giles asks us as he picks up some books "No" Buffy, Willow and I mutter as we sit down on the steps. "Sure!" Xander says cheerfully as hops up the steps to the mezzanine level of the library.

"How did the, um... hunt go last night, Buffy?" Giles asks Buffy as she leans on my shoulder and Willow leans on the other.

"No go" she mumbles back to our watcher "Uh, 'no', 'no' you didn't go, or, or, or you were unsuccessful?" Giles asks back confused.

"No Gorches" Buffy mutters back as Xander looks at her weirdly "Apparently Buffy has decided the problem with the English language is all those pesky words," Xander says to Giles before looking at Buffy "You... Angel... big...smoochies?".

"Shut... up" Buffy glares at Xander as Giles looks at us concerned "I-it's true, Buffy, you, Nikki and Willow do seem a little sluggish. Are you quite sure everything's alright?"

We looked at each other and shrugged "Maybe something we ate" Willow says to us "Or perhaps it's the burden of parenthood. Notice how seriously you three have taken this egg thing" Xander says seriously.

"While I, in turn, have, uh, well, chosen a more balanced approach," he says and starts tossing it around making the three of us wince "Xander, maybe you shouldn't..." Willow starts concerned.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Xander says interrupting Willow as he continues to toss his egg. "You can't stress over every little thing! A child picks up on that. Which is a one-way ticket to neurotic city".

He catches and tosses the egg again, but misses the next catch, we gasp in fright as the egg hits the floor but it just wobbles to a stop, unbroken.

Willow eyes opened in surprise "It didn't break!" she turned to her eyes to Xander suspiciously "How come it didn't break?" Xander laughs guiltily "Which is another secret to conscientious egg care, pot of scalding water and about eight minutes"

"You boiled your young?" Willow gasps "Yeah! I know it sounds cruel, but sometimes you gotta be cruel to be kind! I mean, you can bet that little Xander here is thick-skinned now" Xander says picking up his egg.

"Technically that would be cheating, yes?" Giles questions "No! It's like a shortcut. You know, when you run a race?" Xander says trying to defend himself.

"That would also be cheating," I told him serious as Wilow and Buffy shook their heads "You should be ashamed" Willow whispers to Xander, Giles turns to look at Xander "I suppose there is a sort of... Machiavellian ingenuity to your transgression".

"I resent that!" Xander shouts at Giles before seeing all the looks we were giving him "Or possibly thank you".

"Figures you four would all be hanging in the dungeon while something major's going on at Sunnydale High" We all turned to look at Cordelia confused "And what would that be, Cordelia? Barrette Appreciation Day?" Xander asks sarcastically.

"Mr. Whitmore didn't show today," Cordelia says frowning at us when we didn't look shocked "That news is of the past," Buffy tells her slowly "He's missing?" Cordelia says and we look at Giles "Presumed dead?" Cordelia carried on.

"Presumed by whom?" Giles asks as he carries on picking up books "Well, me!" Cordelia pouts crossing her arms " I think we should give him a few hours before we give up on him completely" Giles responds with no urgency.

"Well, I think we should look around, don't you Xander?" Cordelia states looking at Xander who just shakes his head "It can wait" Cordelia huffs "Well, his body could fall out of a closet somewhere"

Xander looks at us before looking back to Cordelia "So we should check some closets to see if he's in a closet?" Xander nods and points at her "You're right. There could be a closet. Let's go"

Xander points to us "You guys look for more clues. We'll meet back here" He takes Cordelia by the arm and guides her out of the library "We'll get right on it," I said unenthusiastically.

"Are they getting weirder? Have you noticed the weirdness of them?" Willow asks looking at Buffy and I as we nod "They're weird" I mutter "Should we have guilt about not looking for Mr. Whitmore?" Buffy mutters to Giles.

"I-I'd rather you conserve your strength for hunting the Gorches," Giles says looking us "I'll be fine by tonight. Maybe I'll sweep the cemetery?" Buffy says to me and I nod "I'll just be around" I groan making Giles look at me concerned.

"Well, be careful, i-i-if you're still feeling a little sluggish" I shake my head with a smile "No worries" Giles nods and turns to Buffy "And Angel's helping you, right?" Buffy blushes but nods "He does what he can".

"I'm sure he does" I whisper to Willow making her laugh, Buffy turned to us with a glare making us stop laughing and pull a straight face, Giles gives at the three of us with a weird look before pulling off his glasses and cleaning them with a sigh.

**† † † † † †**

Jumping up in bed I heard a bang from Buffy's room, running to her room, I threw open the door to see Buffy still dressed looking scared "What the hell is going on?" I mutter to her with my eye half closed in tiredness.

Buffy shushes me and picks up her iron, I watch as she looks under her bedspread I yawn and watch as she slowly she approaches her bed and kneels down, she quickly raises the spread and looks underneath with the iron held ready in her hand.

"Seriously Buffy what are you doing?" Buffy stand up looking confused, suddenly something purple falls onto her shoulder from above, It tries to crawl down her back but she grabs it and flings it off.

Now wide awake I jump as the purple creature crawls quickly behind Buffy's desk and along the wall past her bookcase toward her bed.

Grabbing a pair of scissors from her desk Buffy hands me the iron as we approach her bed with the scissors held ready to stab and iron ready to squish.

Buffy swings around with the scissors and stabs it dead center, he pulls it off of the wall, impaled on the scissors, and slams it to the floor, she steps on its tail to holds it down while she stabs it several more times and I squish it with the iron.

Satisfied Buffy drops the scissors and crawls backward to lean against her bed I drop down next to her with a sigh.

Buffy jumps and frantically grabs for her phone on the nightstand and knocks it and the clock to the floor she grabs the receiver and taps in the numbers.

"Come on! Pick up!" Buffy mutters into the phone "Willow! Are you okay?" Buffy asks quickly and looks like she's in shock as she talks to Willow." Your egg! I-is it doing anything?" I looked at Buffy shocked that thing was her egg?!.

"Break it! Right now! I want you to smash it with something heavy!" realizing that the eggs were bad I thought about mark and if he was in danger with our egg, I sighed and looks at Buffy's clock "It's 2:45 am".

"What's going on in here?" mom's voice rings from the doorway and I watch as Buffy grabs the cloth from her former egg's basket and lays it on the dead creature.

Buffy who scrambles to her feet, eyes wide with surprise "Why are you dressed? Where exactly do you think you're going at this hour of the night?" Mom questions angrily "Nowhere" Buffy shouts as mom looks at her sternly "Who was that on the phone?".

Buffy looks at the phone and back to Mom "Um, uh, Willow. She wasn't feeling well today, so I was just calling to make sure she was feeling better".

"You're gonna have to do much better than that, young lady" Mom tells Buffy crossing her arms looking very angry "I had a bad dream?" Buffy lies with a defeated look.

"Oh, no, you're about to have a bad dream! A dream that you are grounded for the rest of your natural life" mom says as she orders Buffy to bed and then looks at me.

"What are you doing up?" she asks looking suspicious "Would you believe.... No? I'll just..." I said and awkwardly backed into my room.

**† † † † † †**

Pulling up to school in mom's jeep she looked at Buffy sternly " Which means no after-school socializing, no Bronze, no nothing. Not until I say so. Do you understand?" she says listing off things.

"Yeah, but I think you're..." Buffy starts but Mom interrupts "Now, school ends at 2:30. I want you to go to the library at 2:33 and study until I pick you up there at 5:30. Understood?" Buffy nods with a sad frown " Yeah".

"Good. Have a nice day" mom says as we out of the car, I give Buffy a sad smile "I'm sorry B" I tell her "Come on" walking up the steps we're stopped by Cordelia who finishes talking with a friend,

"Nice bear," I tell her with a smirk "Listen is your..." Cordelia interrupts Buffy and looks at me " Hey, I'll have you know that my father brought this bear back from Gstaad years ago. Then all of a sudden these trendoids everywhere started sporting them. So I'm totally not wearing it. Then I thought, hey, I'm the one who started this nationwide craze! What am I ashamed of?".

"Okay, Soliloquy Girl, I just wanted to ask about your egg." Buffy says to her and Cordelia looks at her weird "My egg?" We nod in sync "Yeah. Your egg. The one Mr. Whitmore gave you" I tell her.

"It's in my bear" Cordelia say motioning to her bear backpack "So, your egg isn't acting odd or anything?" Buffy asks but Cordelia laughs "It isn't acting anything. It's an egg, Buffy, it doesn't emote" Cordelia turns and sees another friend " Shanisse! Is that your real hair?".

"Hey" we turn to see Willow put her hand on Buffy's shoulder "Hi," Buffy and I say as we walk towards Xander "So, was there any more hatchling activity last night?".

Buffy shakes her head "maybe It was just a trap from them. Everyone else's egg seemed perfectly normal" Buffy tells Willow who just nods at us "Did you bring the thing that attacked you," Xander asks.

"Yeah. Giles wants to see it. He's in full research mode" Buffy nods "Okay. Well, bring it to the science lab, and I'll get Giles, and we'll analyze it." Willow tells us seriously.

"Great. You know, I always say that a day without an autopsy... is like a day without sunshine" Buffy laughs when Xander lets out a scream and we turn to see purplish-gray creature inside of Xander's egg, dead from being boiled.

**† † † † † †**

Standing in the science lab we looked at the hatchling as it's laid out in a dissection tray "Can I just say Gyughhh!" Buffy says aloud as I turn to her "I see your 'Gyughhh!' and raise you a Nyaghhh!".

"What is it?" Cordelia questions "We don't know what it is, Cordelia, that's why we're here. Capisce?" Xander jeers as Cordelia glares at him "Capisce? What are you, world traveler now?" Cordelia sneered back.

I smile as Willow comes into the lab "Hey, where's Giles? I know he won't wanna miss this" Buffy asks Willow"He said to get started. He'll be by as soon as possible" Willow told us seriously making me frown.

"So, okay! Get started, Buffy! Dissect it or something" Xander tells Buffy handing her the scalpel "Me? Why do I have to dissect it?" Buffy asks as she picks up the scalpel "Uh because you're the Slayer?" Xander replies in a 'duh' tone.

"And I slayed! My work here is done" Buffy retorts as she puts the scalpel on the table in front of Xander who shakes his head "Oh, no, I almost ate one of those things. I think I've fulfilled my gross-out quota for the decade. Plus Nikki's a Slayer too" Xander says as he and Buffy looked over to me.

"Really?" I say looking at them "Babies" I mutter taking the scalpel and start the dissection "Do we even know what to look for? I mean, how are we supposed to figure out what this thing is?" Xander asked me as I cut into the hatchling.

"I'll turn it over. Maybe we missed its ID bracelet" I sneer at Xander "So, now I guess, uh, we know what happened to Mr. Whitmore" I nod with a frown.

"He saw this and ran away?" Cordelia asked hopefully making Buffy look up at her with a dark look "Try best case scenario" Willow turns to look at us as I stop cutting "It's possible that Mr. Whitmore wasn't harmed. Maybe the offspring simply used him to return to the mother bezoar".

Yeah. Maybe he..." Xander stops and turns to Willow "What?" Cordelia stands up holding a metal bar, which she wields like a baseball bat. "What's a bez..." Cordelia hits Buffy in the face with the bar, knocking her down and out.

"Cordy! What..." Willow picks up a microscope and hits Xander over the head with it.

Dropping the scalpel I back away from the two girls wondering what the hell was going on, Cordelia lifts the metal bar again and I throw my arm up in fear throwing her away from me.

Turning I gasped as I saw Willow behind me with a chair before she brings it down on my head making me drop to the floor looking up I tried to keep my eyes open.

"Will..." I started as my sight became blurry and the last thing I saw was Willow lifting the chair up ready to strike again.

**† † † † † †**

I groaned as I felt myself being shaken "Mmm 5 more minutes" I muttered before jumping up remembering what happened "You okay?" I asked Buffy as she rubbed her head "yeah" she muttered.

"Hey! Xander!" Buffy yells as she slaps his cheek "Hey! You alright?" Xander moans as he comes to "Last time Cordy dragged me in here it was a lot nicer" Buffy and I pulled a face confused "What?" we asked in unison.

"Uh..Huh? Nothing. Uh, crazy talk. Head trauma" Xander laughs anxiously "Tell me about it. I'm gonna have a big bump" Buffy exclaims as she feels her head again.

"Uh, I'm gonna have a peninsula!" Xander retorts"I got hit by a chair.. twice," I say making them both wince "what, what the hell's goin' on? Cordy and Willow?" Xander exclaims as we look around the closet.

"Something to do with the hatchlings, I'm sure of it" Buffy mumbles as she tries to open the door but it's locked "What, are they possessed?" Xander asks again "I don't know. But they sure wanted us out of the way" She growls.

Xander looks around still holding his head "Well, why not kill us?" I shrug as I continue to look around "Why, uh, why drag us in here?" my eyes widen when I spot something "I think I know" I mutter as the two turn to look at what I was pointing at.

There are three eggs on the floor and one of them begins to rock as we all take a step back "Oh. Bad now" Xander squeaks as Buffy picks up a toolbox from the shelf and smashes it onto the three eggs.

A dark purple slime squirts out around the toolbox, she then turns back to the door and tries to open it but it won't budge "nope they must have reinforced it" Buffy grunts as she stops pushing the door.

Buffy turns to me with a hopeful look "Do you think you can do it?" I looked at her uneasy"You can do it I know you can" she whispers as Xander put his hand on my shoulder.

"Stand back" I mutter to them as they walk to the back of the closet, lifting up my hand I closed my eyes concentrating. Hearing metal scrape outside the door I knew that whatever they had put in front of the door was gone.

When I heard a clicking sound I put my hand down falling onto Xander "I got you" he whispers holding me into him as Buffy pushes open the door and looking out before turning back to me with a big smile "You did it" I grinned and pumped my hand in the air tiredly.

"Come on," Xander says as he helps me run, my telekinesis still takes a lot out of me but it's getting better with practice just like Sineya said. Running into the library I leaned against the front desk at Buffy and Xander look for Giles.

"He must be out somewhere" I mutter to them as I regain my strength "Well, he picked a helluva time to get a life" Buffy sassed "What are we gonna do?" Xander asks looking at Buffy hopefully.

"We can't fight these things until we know something about 'em," I said out loud as Buffy and Xander nod "Alright, Willow said something. Uh, a name. What was it?" Xander says thinking to himself.

"A bozo! Not a bozo" Buffy exclaims throwing her hands up "A bezoar" Xander shouts looking happy at himself "That's it! Okay, so now... we look it up?" Buffy offers looking a bit helpless "In what?" Xander mutters as I pull a face at him "A book?" I mutter sarcastically.

I turn and look at the books that were lying open next to me "Buff" I whisper as she and Xander walk over to me "Giles said he was gonna try to find something..." Buffy mutters as I take the book on top that's open to a picture and turns it around to look at it, the sketch is of a disk-shaped, tentacled monster.

"And I'd say he found something" I mumbled staring down at the sketch I turned when I heard a crunch and saw Xander standing next to a broken shell "I'd say something found him".

Looking back at the book Buffy sighed "Pre-pre-historic parasite. The mother hibernates underground, laying eggs. The offspring then attach themselves to a host, taking control of their motor functions through neural clamping"

Xander grimaced "Neural clamping. That sounds skippable" I nod in agreement "So, our people are taking orders from the mama bezoar. Which begs the question...What does mama want?"

I opened my mouth to retort when I heard screaming from the hall "Somebody help me!" We run out to investigate to see Jonathon is struggling with a hatchling on his back and falls to the floor, screaming "Get this thing off me! Get this... Somebody help me! Help!"

Buffy, Xander and I watch as Jonathon gets back up quietly "Are you okay?" Buffy asks when Jonathon stops screaming "I'm fine. I slipped." he says stoically as he turns and heads down the hall.

"I think I hear mommy calling," I tell them as we all exchange a look "Uh-huh" Xander agrees as we follow Jonathon down the hall and into the boiler room. I watch as Jonathon walks in and heads straight for a hole.

Buffy, Xander and I peek in, and watch as Jonathon climbs through the hole "Do we really wanna go in there?" We all looked at each other with a pout "We really don't" Buffy said shaking her head.

We exchange another look and make for the hole Buffy climbs in with me close behind her, I turn and look back at Xander before continuing down the tunnel.

"Careful" he whispers as he starts through as well, but doesn't lift his foot high enough and trips through the hole and falls into the tunnel.

Making it to the end of the tunnel we look into the room and see students and teachers digging "What are they diggin' up?" Xander whispers to us, I look over and see a pink sludge and nudge Buffy who sees what I'm seeing "Oh, boy"

We see Cordelia handing Mr. Whitmore an egg "We can't let them spread those eggs" Buffy tells us as we nod in agreement "I'll handle it. Um, can you, uh, hold down the fort?" Xander says looking at us.

"We're gonna need weapons. We're gonna need big weapons" Buffy says to me and we both head back down the tunnel to see what we can find, looking around the boiler room I sigh and grab a long pipe before I'm grabbed by Buffy.

I turn to see the Gorches behind us "See if you'd Slayed him at the mall we would be here right now" I mutter to her making the Gorch brothers raise an eyebrow at me "I told you this weren't over" Lyle said to Buffy who just glare.

"They're so cute. And little. Think we can keep them?" Tector says smirking at us as I frowned "Who you calling cute?" I shout angrily as they grin at me "I want the feisty one" Tector says to his brother.

I grimace as Buffy sighs "Guys, this really isn't a great time" Lyle smiles deviously at us "Oh, it's gonna be" Buffy jams her pipe into both their faces and again into Lyle's gut.

Tector punches her, and she stumbles toward the hole a bit I turn to kick him in the chest sending him back into some metal shelves "ALRIGHT! THAT'S MY BROTHER!" Lyle shouts as he charges and grabs me.

We go flying through the hole and into the tunnel and come tumbling out of the tunnel and onto the floor. We both quickly get up and face off, but Lyle is distracted by all the activity "What the hell is this?"

I look around and see my mom with a pick going back to continue digging next to Willow "Mom?" I call making mom and Willow look up at me just as Buffy comes through the tunnel "Mom?" she repeats as she sees our mom.

"Kill them," Willow says deadpan as several students start to advance on the three of us, I do a roundhouse kick and gets two of them.

Buffy fends some off with my discarded pipe, Lyle ducks a swing with a shovel from another and hits him in the back, knocking him to the floor.

I follow up my kick with two more, and then I sidestep Giles as he swings his crowbar at me "Rude" I mutter as he stumbles past me and into the wall behind us, Lyle backhand punches another one and picks the one up from the floor and throws him back.

Buffy pushes a boy with her pipe and follows up with a kick to his head, making him flip over backward. Giles comes at me again from behind, and I grab him and shove him into a student running at me.

Lyle punches a girl, and she spins away, Buffy kicks another one in the gut as Lyle picks another one up off of the floor and tosses him aside "What the hell is goin' on?!" he shouts at us as he punches another student and Buffy kicks still another "Long story"

Whilst I'm knocking all the students back Lyle turns his attention back to Buffy, he smiles at her and takes a swing Buffy ducks it and punches him in the gut and face he swings again and she ducks again.

His momentum turns him around, and she kicks him in the back. The students start coming again, Buffy and I each punch one. We continue to fight the students coming at us and Lyle gets hit when Tector finally shows up at the tunnel mouth and rubs his hands together.

"Well, alright!" Tector says with a grin as he spits into both hands to get ready to fight, but notices the mother bezoar and lets it distract him, he walks over to the edge of the pit and looks in "Well, looky there!"

"Uh, dude?" I start as I look over at him as he bends over the pit for a better look, the mother bezoar opens its eye and looks up at him "Well, hello!" Tector says with a smile before Mama sends up a tentacle and wraps it around his neck.

He begins to choke as he struggles not to get pulled in he loses his fight and falls into the pit as we watch it happen "TECTOR!" Lyle shouts as Tector's boots disappear into the pit "Tector?" Lyle calls out again.

The bezoar lets out a deep loud belch, Lyle looks over at us "This is all your fault!" he shouts looking upset "How?" Buffy asks as Lyle takes her by the shoulder and flips her over onto her back.

Mom comes up to her and swings her pick down at her but Buffy rolls out of the way, but her feet end up over the bezoar's pit.

Mama wraps a tentacle around her ankles and pulls her in "Buffy no!" I run to help Buffy but Lyle holds me back laughing.

Buffy grabs Mom's pick and drags it in with her. Lyle lets me go as we watch in amazement. Buffy and the mother bezoar begin to fight, and the digging activity in the room comes to a stop.

The students and teachers gather around the pit and watch. Slashing sounds and bezoar screams emanate from the pit we step closer for a better look. The bezoar lets out a dying scream and its eye closes.

Suddenly the hatchlings all fall from their hosts, and the students and adults all collapse to the floor unconscious, Lyle slowly gets closer to the pit, looking around he guardedly steps to the edge and looks in.

The pickax comes flying out and lands on the floor next to him, he quickly takes several steps back before a hand covered with slime comes out of the pit.

Rushing forward I grab the familiar slime covered hand and pull Buffy out of the pit we turn face Lyle who looks in shock "Two Slayers huh?" He nods and tips his hat to us "Alright. It's over".

We watch as he runs out of the pit turning to my twin I smirk "If only Angel could see you now" I laughed making her glare at me before smiling deviously and holding her arms out "How about a hug for your big sis huh?" I scream as Buffy comes at me "Buffy no!".

**† † † † † †**

Standing outside the school several students come walking out, dirty and dazed. Giles tries to calm several others with an explanation, but he himself looks confused as he makes his way over to Xander, Willow, Cordelia and I.

Fire trucks and police can be heard arriving "Yes, yes, uh, i-i-it was a-a, a gas leak, everyone. Uh, well, just, uh, get some air, and a... good night's rest, you know, uh, you'll be fine. These gas things... will happen" Giles shouts out loud to everyone before looking at us.

"W-w-what was it really?" he asked stuttering making Xander and I give each other a look "Stick with the gas thing. I'll fill you in tomorrow" I tell him with a soft smile making him nod slowly "Right," Giles says walking off.

Xander looks at Cordelia and Willow "How you guys doin'?" Willow looks over at us upset "Did I really hit you?" we nodded together "You knocked me out" Xander says making Willow frown "You hit me with a chair, twice" I told her making her flinch.

"Did I hit you?" Cordelia asks us making Xander nod "Yes, everyone hit me" I smiled as Xander as he held his head "Good. Well, I don't mean 'good' because I hit you, but I didn't wanna be left out" I rolled my eyes smiling at Cordelia.

I turn and see Buffy approaching and walk over to her she's washed up and changed "How is she?" Buffy asks quietly, I smiled softly "She's a bit confused, but it's goin' around," I said nodding in the direction of our mom and we start toward her.

Mom comes walking the other way looking around we meet half way she pulls us to her "Are you okay?" Buffy asks mom "Girls, I was worried you'd gotten caught in the building. There, there was a gas leak" she says as we start walking away.

"Uh, yeah, I-I just heard. I was in the gym" Buffy explains to Mom who looks at her seriously "I went looking for you in the library" Buffy grimaced remembering that she was in trouble.

"Oh, well, she was on her way there, when she..." I started but Mom just gave me a stern look making me shut up "I thought I made it pretty clear that you weren't to leave the library till I came" She scolded.

"The other side of that is there was a gas leak, and..." Buffy started but Mom interrupted again "Well, I'm not really interested in the other side right now. Young lady, you have to learn some responsibility, okay? Once and for all"

"I'm grounded?" Buffy asks with a pout "You're already grounded" Mom explained crossing her arms as Buffy nodded "Oh, yeah" Mom stopped walking and turned to Buffy "Until further notice you are confined to your room. You will not leave your room at any time except to go to school or the bathroom. Am I making myself clear?"

Buffy nodded "You're clear. I won't leave my room" Mom looks at Buffy with a nod before turning to me "You too young lady for helping your sister disobey me" I looked up at mom shocked "But mom....".

**† † † † † †**

Getting ready for bed I sighed putting on my pajamas this sucked being the Slayer should give me the edge on being tardy or disobedient, this Slaying thing was a lot harder when mom punished us for saving the world.

"Buffy? Nikki? Are you girls going to bed?" Mom shouted from the hall outside our rooms "Yes!" I shouted back being grounded was all new to me, dad never grounded me really he tried but never saw it through.

"In a minute!" I heard Buffy shout back to Mom, my eyes squinted suspiciously what could she be doing?.

Opening my window I rolled my eyes seeing Angel outside Buffy's window and Buffy leaning through the window.

"Hey!" I shout getting their attention "Could you not, I'm already in trouble because of you!" I tell Buffy with a fake glare as they started kissing again, shutting my window I gagged "Urghh some people".

 

 


	32. Surprise

Buffy wakes with a start and puts her hand to her head as she turns her lamp on, picking up her empty glass from her nightstand she gets up to fill it.

Buffy comes out of her room and walks down the hall to the bathroom and suddenly finds herself in the Bronze, a slow ballad, "Anything", by Shawn Clement and Sean Murray, is playing.

_Take me over, I'm lying down / I'm giving in to you_

She walks in to find Willow sitting at a table with a large cup of cappuccino and an organ grinder's monkey "L'hippo a pique' ses pantalons" Willow says making Buffy frown.

_I'm a hurricane_

The monkey on the table with her squeaks as Buffy walks up to the table and looks at Willow curiously who smiles at her and waves, Buffy raises her hand back.

_I cannot describe this feeling_

Buffy continues on and finds her mother holding a large cup and saucer.

_Now that I've found this love_

Her mother sees her coming, and she turns to face her daughter "Do you really think you're ready, Buffy?" Buffy frowns again "What?"

Joyce drops the saucer and Buffy watches it fall it shatters on the floor, Joyce just turns and slowly walks away.

_I'll do anything for you_

Buffy watches her go, then looks around the room again her eyes pop open wide when she see's Nikki leaning against a wall with Spike leaning against her twirling a strand of her hair in his fingers, they're both smiling happily.

_Now that I've found this love_

She walks past Willow again and through the crowd to the stage. It's empty, no band tonight. She turns around and smiles warmly.

_I'm a fire, burning like a house aflame_

Angel is standing at the pool table. He smiles and starts toward her.

_I'm a hurricane_

Buffy begins to walk toward him.

_I cannot move or see you fly / Now that I've found..._

Drusilla suddenly appears behind Angel. She is vamped out, and thrusts a stake into his back and pulls it out. He arches backward in pain.

"ANGEL!"

_...this love_

They reach out to each other. Before she can touch him his hand begins to disintegrate. The rings on his fingers fall to the floor and his body crumbles to dust, Drusilla lowers the stake and takes the few steps over to Buffy.

"Happy Birthday Buffy"

Buffy sits up as she wakes from her nightmare and quickly sits up, surprised and confused "What the hell was that?"

* * *

"I like you at bedtime?" I mocked to my sister as her, Willow and I walked through the school grounds "You actually said that?" Willow asked Buffy with a smile on her face "I know, I know" Buffy groans.

"Man, that's like... I-I dunno, that's moxie or something" Willow told her with a shrug "Totally unplanned. It just... came out" Buffy said still looking embarrassed.

"And he was into it? I mean, he wants to see you at bedtime, too?" Willow asked Buffy "Yeah, I, I, I think he does. Well, I, I mean he-he's cool about it" Buffy stuttered as she blushed.

"Well, of course, he is. 'Cause he's cool. I mean, he would never... you know..." Willow stutters "Push" I emphasized when Willow tiptoed around it "Right. H-he's not the type" Willow said smiling at me.

"What am I gonna do?" Buffy sighs looking at me and Willow "What do you wanna do?" Willow questions softly "I don't know. I... I mean" We sit down on a bench as Buffy thinks "want isn't always the right thing to do. To act on want can be wrong"

"True" Willow nods looking surprised "But... to not act on want... What if I never feel this way again?" Buffy says with a small pout "Carpe diem. You told me that once" Willow says smiling widely at Buffy.

"Fish of the day," Buffy frowns confused "Not carp," Willow says shaking her head "Carpe. It means seize the day".

"Right. I... I think we're going to. Seize it. Once you get to a certain point, then seizing is sort of inevitable" Buffy tells us unsure "Wow..." Willow says with wide eyes.

"Yeah," Buffy says with a happy smile "Wow..." Willow repeats as the school bell rings and we start walking to class "Wow!" Willow says again in awe.

"It's sex Willow, not the Nobel Prize," I told her making a few students around us look at in interest causing Willow and Buffy to blush.

"Have you ever?" Willow questions but I shake my head "I've had chances but I'm not interested in stupid jocks, I'm waiting for someone who actually interests me"

Willow looks at me surprise "Wow" I looked at her with a small smile "Yeah" I see Oz sitting on a bench with his guitar."Hey, speaking of 'wow' potential, there's Oz over there. What are we thinking, any sparkage?" I asked Willow as she smiles.

"He's nice. Hey, I like his hands" Willow tells us as we all look at Oz "Mm. A fixation on insignificant detail is a definite crush sign" Willow blushes "Oh, I don't know, though. I mean, he is a senior"

We stop walking as Buffy looks at Willow seriously "You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My boyfriend had a bicentennial" I laugh nodding at Buffy "That's true"

Willow still looks unsure "Uh... I guess... I just..." she stutters looking at Oz "You can't spend the rest of your life waiting for Xander to wake up and smell the hottie. Make a move. Do the talking thing" I tell her.

"Well, what if the talking thing becomes the awkward-silence thing?" Willow asks playing with her hands nervously "Well, you won't know until you try" I tell her softly pushing her in Oz's direction, I smile as she sits down next to Oz giving her a thumbs up I slowly make my way to my last class as 16 year old.

* * *

Sitting in the kitchen with mom and Buffy we ate our birthday breakfast together "Mall trip for your birthday on Saturday. Don't forget" Mom says smiling at us.

"Space on a mom-sponsored shopping opportunity? Not likely" Buffy jokes as we smile "Hmm. So, does, um, 17 feel any different than 16?" Mom asks and I shake my head.

"It's funny you should ask that," Buffy says getting Mom's attention "You know, I woke up feeling more responsible, mature and levelheaded" Mom looked over at me as I smirked at Buffy "Really? Tch. It's uncanny"

"I now possess the qualities one looks for in a... licensed driver" Buffy murmurs looking at mom hopefully "Buffy.." Mom says exhaling "You said we could talk about it again when I turned 17".

Mom sighed and turned back to Buffy "Do you really think you're ready, Buffy?" Buffy's face drops into a horrified look as Mom drops her plate accidentally, I frown as Buffy watches it fall and shatter on the floor before pulling me roughly out of the house.

* * *

Buffy and I are sitting at the table in the library while Giles paces behind her "...and then my mom broke the plate. It was just like my dream. Every gesture, every word. It was so creepy" Buffy says as I sit next to her speechless.

"Spike and me" I say looking up at my sister who nods "Eww" I whisper with a frown "I would never date a vampire much less be smiling at one" I told her seriously as Giles sat down by us "Yes, well, I-I-I'd imagine it would be... fairly unnerving" He agreed thinking about the dream Buffy told us about.

Xander and Willow come bounding in "Hey! It's the women of the hour" Xander says smiling at us "It's Happy Birthday Buffy, Nikki... Uh, twins!" She jumps over to the table, hugs mine and Buffy's shoulders with a big smile.

Willow lets go and goes around to the other side of the table with Xander. Buffy just looks down and pulls her hair behind her ear "Not Happy Birthday Buffy?" Willow asks as we all look at Buffy.

"I-it's just that, um, part of the nightmare that Buffy had the other night actually transpired" Giles explains to the pair who nod "Which means Drusilla might still be alive. Giles, in my dream, I couldn't stop her. She blindsided me. A-Angel was gone before I knew what happened" Buffy stammered looking at our watcher.

"Even if she is alive, uh, we can still protect Angel. Dreams aren't prophecies, Buffy. Y-y-y-you dreamt that the Master had risen, but you stopped it from happening" Giles told my distressed twin, I nodded my head even though I wasn't there..technically.

"You ground his bones to make your bread" Xander comforts cheerfully "That's true. Except for the bread part" Buffy nodded thoughtfully"Okay, so, fine. We're one step ahead, but I wanna stay that way"

"Absolutely" Giles agrees standing up "Let me read up on Drusilla, uh, see if she has any particular patterns," he tells us as he starts toward his office "Why don't you meet me here at 7:00? We'll map out a strategy" Giles says looking at us.

"What are we supposed to do until then?" I ask him confused "Go to classes, do your homework, have supper..." I nodded with a pout "Right. Be boring and do nothing" I say as we up from the table and heads out of the library.

* * *

After watching my sister worry and pace all day we walked back to school to meet Giles I looked at Buffy she had been unresponsive all day since our talk to Giles this morning "It's going to be ok you know" I tell her as she stops walking.

"I'm not so sure," she says sadly crossing her arms I wrap my arms around her "You don't need to worry Buff, Angel is a 200-year-old vampire, we're both slayers and one of us has the power to move things with her mind" I tell my sister making her smile.

"if I see Drusilla coming anywhere near Angel I'll throw her into next month" I smile as Buffy laughs and nods "Damn that sounds fun why couldn't I have had telekinesis" She pouts looking at me "Well Sineya only likes the cool twin," I say with a smirk walking away.

"Hey!" Buffy calls chasing me into school "Buffy! Nikki!" we jump hearing Jenny's voice "Oh, my God, I didn't see you there," Buffy says putting her hand on her heart "Sorry. Um, Giles wanted me to tell you that there's been a change of plans. Uh, he wants to meet you someplace near his house 'cause he had to run home and get a book or something"

"Cause heaven knows there aren't enough books in the library," Buffy says with a laugh "Uh, he's... very thorough," Jenny tells us seriously "Oh, which is not to bag. It's kind of manly in an obsessive-compulsive kind of way, don't you think?" Buffy tells her nicely.

"Mm-hm. Um, you know, my car's here. Why don't I drive you?" Jenny says making us nod "Okay". Sitting in the back of Jenny's beetle I frown "Are we goin' to the Bronze?" I ask her "I'm not sure, Giles gave me an address. I'm just following his directions" Jenny says as we round a corner.

I look out of the window and see a truck is parked in an adjacent loading area, a man jumps off of the truck bed while another walks across the loading dock "This looks funky. Stop for a sec" I tell Jenny as I undo my seatbelt as Buffy does the same.

"No, Girls, maybe you shouldn't," Jenny says looking at us both worried "Sorry. Sacred duty, yada yada yada" Buffy replies as we get out of Jenny's car to investigate, we walk up and stops by the cab seeing Dalton, the vampire who stole Giles' book a while back carrying a wooden box.

"Every time I see you, you're stealing something" Buffy calls out making Dalton growl I step out of the shadows next to Buffy"You really should speak with someone about this klepto issue" I taunt with a smirk.

The truck's engine starts next to us making Buffy turn and reaches for the door handle, the truck door swings open before Buffy can reach it, and a vampire kicks out at her, hitting her in the arm.

Buffy grabs him and pulls him out of the cab and onto the ground the vampire gets up from the pavement, and Buffy punches him, knocking him back down again.

She backs up toward the truck to get around him, but a third vampire standing on the back grabs her by the jacket and lifts her up "Buffy" I shout as the first vampire gets back up and run at me I punch him making him stumble back then kick him in the chest, causing him fall and roll over.

"Nikki catch" I look up to see Buffy throwing me a sharp piece of wood just as the vampire stands up and runs at me again, ducking his punch I turn and sweep his feet staking him as he goes down smiling when he bursts into ashes.

I looked up just in time to see the other vamp grab Buffy from behind, lifts her up and carries her onto the loading dock. He throws her at a door. She hits it and rolls away "Ohh that looked like it hurt," I said with a grimace.

The Vamp runs and punches me make me fall against the glass window of the bronze, getting back up I gave him a kick and threw him over my shoulder, standing back I watched him stumble to his feet before charging at him and spearing him through the window of the bronze.

We both crash through the window and hit the floor as Buffy jumps through the window and kick the vampire as he comes for me, he stumbles back a few steps.

Looking around Buffy grabs a drumstick from a drum set, spins around with it, thrusts it into the vampire's chest and pulls it back out making the vampire explodes into ashes.

"Surprise!" Cordelia shouts jumping up from behind the pool table as we all look at her "That pretty much sums it up" Oz says quietly as Xander shakes his head at Cordelia "I'm okay" I call out holding my hand up in an OK motion.

Buffy and Angel help me up off the floor "Did you seriously tackle him through the window" She asks me with a laugh "Act now think later" I groan as Giles sits me down on a bar stool.

"Are you two okay?" Angel asks looking at Me and Buffy "Yes. W-what happened?" Giles questions looking me over for wounds "Uh, there were these vamps outs..." Buffy stops short and looks around "what's going on?".

I look around seeing balloons, party banner, and a cake "Oh, um... A surprise party" Giles says as he blows on a party favor "Happy Birthday" Cordelia says smiling at us "You guys did all this for us?" Buffy asks looking at our friends before turning to Angel "That is so sweet".

"You sure you're okay?" Angel asks looking at Buffy seriously "Yes, I'm fine. I'm not the one who ran head first through a window" Buffy sassed looking at me as I just smile and nod "saving the world one concussion at a time" I say sarcastically.

"Are you okay?" Willow asks Oz who hasn't moved "Yeah. Hey, did everybody see that guy just turn to dust?" We all stopped when we realized Oz didn't know about vampires and our secret "Uh, well, uh... sort of" Willow mutters softly.

"Yep. Vampires are real. A lot of them live in Sunnydale" Xander tells Oz straight before motioning between Oz and Willow "Willow will fill you in" he says before walking off. "I know it's hard to accept at first" Willow says trying to explain to Oz.

"Actually, it explains a lot" Oz interrupts with a small laugh, Jenny comes into the Bronze carrying Dalton's box "Hey, can somebody give me a hand here?" Angel and Giles take it from her and set it on a table.

"Those creeps left this behind," Jenny tells us to point to the box "What is it?" Buffy asks as we all crowd around the box "I have no idea. Can, can it be opened?" Giles asks as they look at it.

"Yeah. This looks like a release right here" Buffy says opens the box inside is an arm clad in armor Buffy looks over at Giles in disgust when suddenly the arm raises up, grabs Buffy by the throat and begins choking her.

Buffy struggles with the arm as Angel and I try to pull it off of her between the three of us we get it off, and Angel stuffs it back into the box while Buffy steps back and tries to catch her breath.

Giles slams the lid shut "Well, clearly the Hellmouth's answer to 'what do you get the Slayer who has everything?'" Xander laughs out loud.

"Good heavens. Buffy, are you all right?" Giles asks as Buffy continues to cough "Man, that thing had major grip" Buffy exclaims holding her throat "W-what was that?" Willow stutters looking at Giles "It looked like an arm" Oz mutters quietly.

"It can't be. She wouldn't" Angel vents as he looks at the box "What, uh, vamp's version of 'snakes in a can', or do you care to share?" Xander asks snappily to Angel.

"Angel?" Buffy says making him look at her "It-it's a legend way before my time of a demon brought forth to rid the Earth of the plague of humanity... separate the righteous from the wicked... and to burn the righteous down. They call him the Judge" Angel says darkly looking at the box.

"The Judge? This is he?" Giles questions Angel looking at the box but Angel shakes his head with a sigh "Not all of him"

Buffy raises her hand "Um, still needing backstory here" Giles continues to look at Angel "Um... He, he, he couldn't be killed, yes? Um, a-an army was sent against him. Most of them died... but, uh, finally they were able to dismember him, but, uh... not kill him"

Angel nods "The pieces were scattered... buried in every corner of the Earth" Jenny steps forward and looks at Angel "So all these parts are being brought here" Angel nods again and Buffy sighs "By Drusilla. The vamps outside were Spike's men"

Angel looks at Buffy seriously "She's just crazy enough to do it" Willow looks at Angel confused "Do what, reassemble the Judge?" Angel nods seriously "And bring forth Armageddon"

Everyone thinks for a few minutes "Is anybody else gonna have cake?" Cordelia says as she goes to the pool table "We need to get this out of town" Giles says with urgency "Angel" Jenny whispers making Buffy look at her.

"What?" Buffy says almost growling but Jenny looks at Angel "You have to do it. You're the only one that can protect this thing" Buffy looks offended "What about me? Us!" Buffy says pointing at me and her.

"What, you're just gonna skip town for a few months?" Jenny questions Buffy "Months?" Buffy asks looking at Angel sadly "She's right. I gotta get this to the remotest region possible" Angel agrees gloomy.

"But that's not months" Buffy argues as Angel shakes his head "I gotta catch a cargo ship to Asia, maybe trek to Nepal..." Buffy looks at Angel desperately "You know, those newfangled flying machines really are much safer than they used to be".

Angel shook his head "I can't fly. There's no sure way to guard against the daylight. I-I-I don't like this any more than you do, Buffy. But there's no other choice"

Buffy breaths heavily "When?" Angel looks at Buffy for a second "Tonight. As soon as possible" Buffy looks up shocked"But it's my birthday" she whispers to him, Jenny walks over to Angel, interrupting them "I'll drive you to the docks"

* * *

Sitting in the library waiting for Buffy I sigh leaning against my hand, Giles is researching the Judge he looks up from his books "They should be back by now" he says looking concerned.

"Maybe Buffy needed a few minutes to pull herself together. Poor Buffy, on her birthday and everything" Willow, frowns looking sad "Hmm, it's sad, granted. But let's look at the upside for a moment" Xander stands up.

"I mean, what kind of a future would she've really had with him? She's got 2 jobs Denny's waitress by day, Slayer by night and Angel's always in front of the TV with a big blood belly, and he's dreamin' of the glory days when Buffy still thought this whole creature of the night routine was a big turn on"

I looked at Xander pitiful "You've thought about this way too much" I frown "No, no. That's just the beginning. Have I told you the part where I fly into town in my private jet and take Buffy out for prime rib?"

I sigh in relief seeing Buffy walk into the library "Xander..." I hush but he carries on "And she cries?" Giles stands up knowingly "What happened?" Buffy huffs annoyed "Dru's guys ambushed us. They got the box".

Giles nodded before looking at Buffy worried "Where's Jenny?" Buffy points her thumb back at the door "Uh, she took Angel to get clothing. I, I had some here".

"And we needed clothes because..." Xander questions seriously making Buffy look at him "We got wet" she deadpanned before turning to Giles "Giles, what do we know?".

"The more I study the Judge, the less I like him. His touch can literally burn the humanity out of you. A true creature of evil can survive the process. No human ever has" Giles tell us as he reads from the book.

"What's the problem? We send Cordy to fight this guy, and we go for pizza" Xander smiles as we all give him a look "Can this guy be stopped? Without an army?" I ask him with a serious look.

"Um, 'no weapon forged can kill him.' Not very encouraging. If we could only stop them from assembling him" Giles says reading from the book again "We need to find his weak spots, and we need to figure out where they'd be keeping him" Buffy argues looking at Giles.

"This could take time," Giles tells us "Better do a round robin. Xander, you go first" Willow instructs "Good call" Buffy agrees as Xander heads for the phone, Giles raises his eyebrow at us "Round robin?".

"It's when everybody calls everybody else's mom and tells them they're staying at everyone's house" Willow explains to Giles with a smile "Thus freeing us up for world saveage" Buffy finishes with a grin.

Willow smiles happily "And all-night keggers!" Her smile drops when she sees our looks "What, only Xander gets to make dumb jokes?" I smile and shake my head at her.

"Mom, hi. Xander. Yeah, uh, Willow and I are gonna be studying all night long, so I'm not gonna be coming home" Xander explains to his mom "You would think Xander would pick an excuse people would believe" I say out loud making the girls giggle as Xander glared.

Hours into the research Xander walks over to Willow and me at the counter with another open book "Tsk. I think I read this already" he complains and puts the book down "I can't get over how cool Oz was about all this" Willow exclaims with a happy smile.

"Gee, I'm over it," Xander says sarcastically as Willow smile smugly "You're just jealous 'cause you didn't have a date for the party" Xander shakes his head quickly "No, I sure didn't".

Giles walks out into the main room of the library "Angel? Any luck?" Angel comes down out of the stacks book in hand, I turn to Angel and put my finger on my lips before pointing to Buffy who had fallen asleep in his office.

"Seems Buffy needed some rest" Giles whispers looking at us "Yeah. She hasn't been sleeping well. Tossing and turning" Everyone gives Angel a look, "She told me. Because of her dreams?" We all nod and go back to our tasks.

"No!" I hear Buffy scream making Angel and I race to Giles' office "Angel!" She screams again "Buffy, it's okay" Angel soothes as Buffy turns to him "I'm here" I watch as she hugs him close "I'm right here"

I walk back out to the gang with a sigh "I wish I knew how to help with her dreams" I tell them "Well you got weird powers, can't you? I dunno" Xander says motioning something with his hands "I'm telekinetic, not telepathic!" I hiss at him as I walk over to the research table.

Buffy comes out of the office with Angel following her out, Giles looks down at them from the stacks "Buffy, what's happening?" he asks looking at her confused "She had another dream" Angel says looking down at Buffy.

"I think I know where Spike and Drusilla are" Buffy explained with a determined look on her face as Giles comes down the stairs "That's very good, however, you, you do need a plan. I-I know you're concerned, Buffy, but you can't just go off half-cocked" Giles argues as I stand and walk closer to them.

"I have a plan. Angel and I go to the factory and do recon, figure out how far they've gotten assembling the Judge. You guys check any places the boxes could be coming into town. Shipping yards, airports, anything. We need to stop them from getting all the boxes in one place" Buffy orders seriously as Giles nods thoughtfully.

"Yes. Yes, well, um, actually, that's quite a good plan" Giles agrees nodding to himself "This thing is nasty, and it's real, Giles. We can't wait for it to come get us" Buffy tells Giles desperately "Right" Giles whispers he knew just as well as did the danger of the Judge

Buffy grabs her bag and walks towards the door with Angel in tow "Buffy wait I'm coming too" I tell her running after them as they turn to face me "What's better than 2 Slayers and a really old vampire?" Buffy nods and we leave the library ready to find the Judge.

* * *

Walking on the upper level of Spike's warehouse Buffy, Angel and I crouch down by the railing looking at the party going on below "I saw this" Buffy whispers as we look at her "The party" I question as she nods at me silently.

My eyes widen when I see the Judge walk into view flanked by Spike with Drusilla when the Judge suddenly stops and looks around "What? What is it?" Spike asks him with a sigh as he sits in his wheelchair.

The Judge continues to look around then up at us and growls menacingly "We gotta get outta here" Angel whispers pushing us up we try to make a run for it, but there are vampires heading us off on both sides "Hey hands off" I shout as a vampire grabs me pulling my arm around my back.

Buffy, Angel and I are brought before Spike, Drusilla and the Judge "Well, well. Look what we have here, crashers" Spike taunts as he wheels up to us "I'm sure our invitations just got lost in the mail," Buffy says sarcastically.

"It's delicious" Drusilla purrs as she licks her fingers "I only dreamed you'd come. Rrrr." Drusilla says looking at Angel tauntingly,  _had Drusilla been sending Buffy dreams?_

Angel struggles against the vampires holding him "Leave them alone" Spike smirks at Angel "Yeah, that'll work. Now say 'pretty please'" The Judge breathes deeply as he looks at us "The girl" he groans out.

"Chilling, isn't it? She's so full of good intention" Drusilla purrs to The Judge who shakes his head "not her" he says before turning his head to me "Her. She so full of anger, darkness and... power" The Judge almost purrs as the others look at him shocked.

I looked around confused "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I shout out loud as Spike smirk at me "Now, now love" The Judge steps closer to us but Angel gets himself between them "Take me!".

"No!" Buffy screams trying to fight against the vampires "Take me instead of her!" Angel screams again looking desperate "Uh, you're not clear on the concept, pal. There is no instead. Just first and second" I looked at Spike as he grins at our predicament.

"And if you go first, you don't get to watch your Slayer die" Drusilla says with an excited smile, Angel's captors pull him back as the Judge reaches for Buffy "Nikki" she calls in a panic as I try to get my hands up "Uh I would keep her hands down if I were you" Spike tells the vampires behind me with a charming laugh.

I look at him with a smirk as I continue to struggle "Aww you remembered how sweet" I called sarcastically as I began to panic seeing how close the Judge was to my sister "Nikki" Buffy screams again, turning my eyes to the Judge I glared at him wishing I could somehow get him away from her.

Squinting at him desperately his hand stopped in mid-air "What is this?" he growls trying to move his arm as Buffy sighed in relief "The Slayer, her eyes!" Spike shouts pushing himself forward as Buffy knocks the vampires off her and Angel does the same.

"Don't touch him!" Angel shouts as Buffy kicks the Judge in the chest and knocks him back as Angel hits the vampires off of me I fall to the ground feeling drained, my eyes widen when I see Spike looking at me determined and put his hands on his wheels ready to move.

Angel lunges for a set of chains and a bunch of monitors crashes to the floor on top of the Judge and hard enough to knock a hole in the floor, Buffy sees the hole in the floor "This way!" She shouts as Angel picks me up and runs for the hole.

Feeling Angel run through the tunnels I look over his shoulder to see vampires jumping into the hole after us "Hurry" I whisper feeling pathetic without my strength.

Buffy pulls a door closed behind us as we hide from the vampires, Angel sets me down as he goes to check the tunnel, clenching and unclenching my fist I smile feeling my strength coming back thanks to my accelerated Slayer metabolism.

Angel waves to us over to the ladder when it was clear, Buffy puts her arm around me and helps me up the ladder where Angel is lifting the manhole for us, feeling the rest of my strength return I quickly climb out into the pouring rain.

"Come on. We need to get inside" Angel calls over the rain Buffy nods and begins to walk "I'm going to Giles he needs to know The Judge is up and running" I shout them over the rain as I run away thinking about what The Judge had said about me.

* * *

Running into the library I was soaked to the bone from the rain and I was sore "My god, Nikki!" I heard Giles gasp seeing me "What happened?" he asked pulling a chair out for me whilst wrapping a blanket around my shoulders.

"The Judge he's back," I tell Giles shivering keeping the warm blanket around me tight "He's worse than we thought" I muttering remembering how shocked I was when I first saw The Judge, Giles sighed and took his glasses off.

"This could be troublesome" he whispers as I nod quietly "He chose Buffy" I muttered to him as he looked at me confused "When looking at us he chose Buffy to kill because I was too angry and dark, She's always better, always chosen, I'm just the angry degenerate " I say bitterly sniffing to myself.

"Nikki. I.." Giles stuttered obviously not knowing how to comfort a crying teenager I repressed my tears and smiled up at Giles how was looking at me concerned "I used my Telekinesis through my eyes" I told him shaking.

Giles smiled proudly before putting his hand on shoulder comfortingly as I broke down into tears making Giles pull me into him shushing me, looking up at Giles I sniffed "Something bad is coming"

* * *

Angel wakes with a start and gasps for air as he sits up he looks next to him seeing Buffy smile in her sleep still undressed from the night they had spent together.

Outside lightning strikes again "Ahh!" Angel screams as he feels excruciating pain, he gets up from the bed and hurries off outside into the dark.

Crashing through the door into the rain he stumbles over some trashcans and falls to the pavement, Angel cries out in pain and fear as he feels himself being ripped into two.

"Buffy!" He shouts grabbing his chest as the lightning continues to crash and the rain falls around him.

"Buffyyyyy!" Angel screams one last time before falling to the floor with a groan as the rain beats down on him.


	33. Innocence

Walking into the library the next morning I saw Xander, Willow and Giles sitting around "Morning" Willow and Xander call to me with a big smile.

"Morning" I mumble back as Giles nods at me making me smile he promised not to tell anyone about my little breakdown last night.

"What's up? Where's Buffy?" Xander asks looking at me I shrugged "she was with Angel last time I saw her" Xander starts to look concerned "So this Judge guy's already been assembled?" he asks looking at both Giles and I but I turn away.

"Yes," Giles tells them as they breathed deeply as Jenny looked troubled "Then Buffy could be... Okay, we gotta find 'em." Xander says thinking "Um, we gotta go to that place, that, uh, that factory. That's where they're holed up, right" Xander asks looking at me.

I nodded and looked at Xander strangely "Xander she's probably still with Angel" I told him but he shook his head "Let's go" Cordelia looks at him and rolls her eyes "And do what besides be afraid and die?"

Xander looks at Cordelia annoyed and shook his head "Well, nobody's asking you to go, Cordelia. If the vampires need grooming tips we'll give you a call".

Giles sighs looking at Xander "Cordelia has a point. Now, we know Buffy and Angel were not harmed so we don't need to go looking for them".

"Yeah? Well, what about if The Judge went looking for them?" Xander says to Giles snarkily "Xander" Jenny whispers to him shaking her head.

"No, Xander's right! My God, you people are all... Well, I'm upset, and I can't think of a mean word right now, but that's what you are, and we're going to the factory!" Willow shouts as she begins to walk to the door.

Just then Buffy comes into the library "Buffy!" Willow shouts happily seeing my twin sister "We were just going to rescue you" Xander tells her with a smile "Well, some of us were" Willow says throwing Giles and me a look "Well, I-I would have" he stuttered seeing Willows glare.

"Where's Angel?" Jenny asked looking around for the broody vampire "He didn't check in with you guys?" Buffy questions looking at us desperately as we shake our heads "No" Buffy nods and sighs "So as you probably know The Judge is a no assembly required. He's active".

"Why didn't you call? We, we, we thought..." Giles started before turning his head to me and stopping short when my jaw clenched "Well, we, we had to hide. Uh, we got stuck in the sewer tunnels with Nikki being drained by her powers and then we just split up... Uh, no one's heard from him?" Buffy asks again looking sad.

"I'm sure he'll come by" Willow whispers to Buffy with a nod "Yeah, I'm, I'm sure you're right" Buffy smiles at Willow but it soon drops "Buffy, the Judge, we, we must stop him" Giles stutters looking at us nervously.

"What can you tell us?" he asks looking at Buffy and me "Not much. I, um... I kicked him. It was just like a sudden fever. If he'd got his hands on me..." Buffy says with a shiver "But Nikki's telekinesis worked on him so that's a plus".

"In time, he won't need to touch. The stronger he gets, he'll be able to reduce us to charcoal with a look" Giles says grimly "Also, he's not the prettiest man in town" I add and the room goes quiet "What?"

"I better continue researching, must look for a weak spot. The rest of you should get to your classes" Giles tells us heading for his books "Yeah, I better go, too" Jenny says to Giles with a smile.

I watch as Buffy is the first one out of the door "Buffy, wait up!" I call as Willow and I run after her catching up to her she stops and looks at us "You don't think Angel would have gone after the Judge himself, do you?" Willow asks looking scared for Angel.

"No, he'd know better than that. Maybe he just needed... I don't know. I just, I wish he'd contact me. I need to talk to him" Buffy mutters looking at Willow who nods "Well I gotta run to class, see you after" Buffy and I watch as Willow bounces away.

I turn back to my sister whose gaze is stuck on the floor "Wow that floor must be pretty interesting right now" I laugh sarcastically until Buffy looks at me confused "Huh?" I sighed and grabbed my sister pulling her into an empty classroom.

"Ok spill" Buffy looks at me with a smile but I could see through it "What are you talking about?" she questions with her fake smile "B, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong" I whisper to her.

Buffy nods and looks at the floor "So tell me what's wrong" I say stroking her hair as she looks up at me with watery eyes, sighing I pull her into me "I'm here Buffy, I'm here".

* * *

 

Meeting up with Willow outside the library I sighed Buffy had told me about her night with Angel and how he was missing when she woke up, way to make a girl feel loved after taking her virginity Angel. "Hey Will" I greet her with a smile as we walk into the library.

I stop dead seeing Xander and Cordelia together, kissing, like full on making out, after a few moments Cordelia giggles and smiles and they pull apart looking very much loved up and happy.

I clear my throat and they turn to us shocked "Willow, uh..." Xander starts but Willow darts off "We were just... Willow! Willow!" I smack Xander on the arm before we run after Willow "Willow, come on!" he calls to her.

Willow stops and looks at him shaking her finger "I knew it! I knew it! Well, not 'knew it' in the sense of having the slightest idea, but I knew there was something I didn't know. You two were fighting way too much. It's not natural!"

Xander sighs and nods his head "I know it's weird..." Willow breathes deeply her eyes filling with tears "Weird? It's against all laws of God and Man! It's Cordelia! Remember? The, the 'We Hate Cordelia' club, of which you are the treasurer" I looked at them confused there's a 'we hate Cordelia' club?

"Look, I was gonna tell you," Xander says taking a step towards Willow but she takes one back "Gee, what stopped you? Could it be shame?" She shouts at him angrily "All right, let's overreact, shall we?" Xander says throwing his arms up.

"But I'm..." Willow starts as the tears begin to roll down her face "Willow, we were just kissing. It doesn't mean that much" Xander tells her but she just shakes her head "No. It just means that you'd rather be with someone you hate than be with me"

I watch distraught as Willow runs from the hall leaving Xander and I stood together wondering what to do, I turned to him with an angry stare making him jump "You idiot" I growl walking away trying to find Willow, _if I was a crying heartbroken girl where would I go?_

Looking to my left I rolled my eyes seeing the girl's bathroom "such a cliché" I grumbled walking through the door and immediately hear sniffling.

"Will... Willow?" I call but she doesn't answer she just continues to sniffle "Sweetie?" I knock on the bathroom stall and it opens to reveal Willow sitting on the toilet with her knees against her chest.

Crouching in front of her I brushed her hair away from her face "I'm not so great at this making people feel better stuff but for you, I'm willing to try" I tell her honestly Willow has been the best friend I've ever had and it hurts to see her so broken.

"What do you see in Xander the boy will still be living with his mother in his 30's" I say making her smile a little "You're beautiful Will, you're a smart girl don't let them take that away from you" Willow looks up at me and I wipe away her tears with a smile.

"By the time Xander realizes how beautiful and special you really are you'll be happy with someone else. Trust me this is not worth you're tears or energy" I explain to Willow who nods wiping her eyes.

Standing up I smile as Willow looks up at me, I held out my hand with a smirk "Let's go show them how badass you are" Willow takes my hand and we start to walk back to the library.

"Remember to hold your head up high and stick it to them, " I tell her fiercely as she nods and puts on a serious face, Xander walks towards us in the hall and Willow stops nervously.

"Will. I'm glad you came back. We can't do this without you" Xander says running up to us Willow looks at me and I nod seriously "Let's get this straight. I don't understand it, I don't wanna understand it, you have gross emotional problems, and things are not okay between us. But what's happening right now is more important than that" Willow says putting Xander in his place.

"Okay," he whispers looking defeated "What about the Judge? Where do we stand?" Willow asks looking at Xander "On a pile of really boring books that say exactly the same thing" Xander explains shrugging his shoulders.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair "Lemme guess: 'no weapon forged. It took an army' yada yada yada" I ask and Xander nods "Yeah, where's an army when you need one?" Willow questions out loud.

Xander looks up suddenly "Whoa. Whoa! I... I think I'm having a thought. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a thought. Now I'm having a plan" Xander tells us happily making me raise my eyebrow "What's the plan?" I ask as the lights suddenly go out.

"Now I'm having a wiggins" Xander mutters sounding scared "What's going on?" Willow asks as we look around "Let's get to the library" I tell them "Willow. Xander. Nikki" I turn quickly to see Angel standing behind us.

"Angel" I sigh seeing the vampire "Dude Buffy's looking for you, Did you see her?" I say as he walks closer to us "Yeah. What's up with the lights?" Angel asks pointing around.

"I don't know. Listen, I think I have an idea" Xander tells him "Forget about that now. I... I got something to show you" Angel tells us sounding weird.

"Show us?" Willow asks him confused "Yeah. Xander, go get the others" Angel orders as Willow and I walk over to stand in front of him "Okay" Xander says as he runs off "Something's wrong" I whisper trying to see Angel through the dark.

"What?" Angel laughing "Nothing wrong, Willow come here" I looked at Willow confused "What is it, Angel?" Willow asks taking a step forward "Girls, get away from him," Jenny says holding a wooden cross in front of her.

Willow stops in front of Angel and turns to Jenny "What?" I could hear Jenny's ragged breaths and I looked at Angel next to me "Walk to me" Jenny demands from the opposite end of the hall.

"What are you talking about? It's Ang..." Angel snuck up behind Willow and grabbed her by the throat as she lets out a frightened yelp, Xander comes running through the door from the other hall.

"Don't do that!" Xander shouts from next to Jenny "Oh, I think I do that" Angel mocks as Willow cries, running over to Angel's side and in front of the glass cabinet I lifting my hand up.

Angel whirls around to face me and growls "Be smart Sweetheart" he taunts gripping Willow's through tighter making her scream.

Breathing heavily I put my arm down knowing I could hurt Willow either way "What are you doing Angel!" I growl at him angrily "He's not Angel anymore. Are you?" Jenny says still holding her cross.

"Wrong. I am Angel. At last!" Angel growls as he shakes Willow "Oh, my God" Xander whispers as we all realize what happened "I got a message for Buffy" Angel says with laughter in his voice.

"Why don't you give it to me yourself?" Buffy calls from the door, I turn to see her looking at Angel seriously, he spins around with Willow to face her "Well, it's not really the kind of message you tell. It sort of involves finding the bodies of all your friends"

He tightens his grip on Willow even more "This can't be you" Buffy whispers "Gee, we already covered that subject" Angel mocks Buffy "Angel, there must be some part of you inside that still remembers who you are" Buffy pleads to her former lover.

"Dream on, schoolgirl" Angel taunts as I look over over my shoulder to see Xander takes the cross from Jenny and starts towards Angel "Your boyfriend is dead. You're all gonna join him" Angel smirks at Buffy.

"Leave Willow alone, and deal with me" Buffy growls "But she's so cute" Angel coos as he pinches Willow's cheek making my eye twitch "and helpless. Really a turn-on".

Xander shoves the cross into Angel's face from behind. Angel reels back and drops Willow who falls backward into Xander, and they collapse against the wall.

Angel turns and reaches Buffy he grabs her by the shoulders I wince as she inhales in fright, I stood behind Angel as he leans into Buffy "Things are about to get very interesting".

He leans into her like he's going to kiss her but pushes her against the wall harshly, he spins and grabs me forcing a rough kiss upon me as I push away from him and into the wall before dropping to the floor.

He turns and walks out the doors smirking at the carnage he's left behind, holding a hand on my mouth I looked at my sister whose staring at me "I didn't.. he.." I began but I didn't know what to say.

"Buffy, you okay?" Xander asks as he bends down to Buffy who's now staring at the door where Angel had been just a moment ago "Buffy?".

* * *

 

Leaning against the wall in the library I watch as Giles paces, Xander stands whilst Buffy, Willow and Cordelia sit at the table, Jenny is leaning against the shelves behind her.

"And we're absolutely certain that, that Angel has reverted to his former self?" Giles asks and we all look at him seriously "Yeah, uh, we're all certain. Anyone not feeling certain here?" Xander mutters as we all looked down in shock Angelus was back.

"Giles, you wouldn't have believed him. He was so... He came here to kill us" Willow whispers and my eye twitches again seeing her bruised neck "What are we gonna do?" Cordelia asks sensibly for once.

"I'm leaning towards blind panic myself" All of ours widened at Giles' words "Rupert, don't talk like that. The kids." Jenny mutters nodding to our fearful and exhausted faces.

"I'm sorry. It's just that things are bad enough with the Judge here. Angel crossing over to the other side... I-I-I wasn't prepared for that" Giles stutters looking at a loss.

"None of us were," Jenny says as we all look at my sister who is sitting at the table opposite Willow still in shock.

Willow notices and gets up to go to her "Are you okay?" she asks gently, Buffy shakes her head no. "Is there anything I can do?" Willow asks again "I should've known. When I saw him at the house, he was different. The things he said..." Buffy mutters looking upset.

"What things?" Giles questions but Buffy just looks up sadly "It's private," she says quietly "But you didn't know he had turned bad?" Jenny inquires looking at Buffy who shakes her head again.

Willow looks at Jenny "How did you?" Jenny looks at Willow surprised "What?" Willow frowns "Well, you knew. You told me to get away from him" She asks making us look at Jenny "Well, I saw his face".

"If only we knew how it happened," Giles says as he sits on the table, Buffy's head shoots up "What do you mean?" she asks hurriedly "Well, something set it off. Some, some, uh, event must've triggered his transformation. Well, if anyone would know, Buffy, it-it should be you".

"I don't" Buffy whispers avoiding everyone's eyes "Well, did anything happen last night that, that might..." Giles asks as Buffy sobs "Giles, please, I can't" Buffy cries as she runs from the library.

I stand up straight when she runs past me but I didn't try to stop her honestly I didn't know what to do for her "Buffy, I'm sorry, but we can't afford to... Buffy!" Giles shouts after her.

Willow sits at the table watching Buffy run "Giles, shut up" we all sit in silence trying to make sense of what's happened "I can't believe he kissed you" Willow mutters as Cordelia and Giles look at me in shock.

"This is great. There's an unkillable demon in town, Angel's joined his team and has the hots for his ex's sister and said Slayer is a basket case... I'd say we've hit bottom" Cordelia shouts and I look at her angrily.

"One, he does not have the hots for me and Two, that basket case is my sister," I tell her ferociously and Giles put a firm hand on my shoulder "I have a plan," Xander says out loud looking pleased.

"Oh, no, here's a lower place" Cordelia pipes up "I don't know what's up with Angel, but I think I may have a way to deal with this Judge guy" we all look at Xander interested.

"What do we do?" Willow asks instantly as Xander looks at her guiltily "I think, um... I think I may need Cordelia for this one" Willow lowers her eyes.

"And we may need wheels" Xander adds looking at us "Well, my car is..." Cordelia starts but gets interrupted by Xander "It might have to be bigger" Willow smirks and sit up straight "No problem. I'll get Oz. He has a van" I smirk and nod at my best friend.

"Good. Okay" Xander says and rubs his hands together "Care to let me in on the plan I'm a part of?" Cordelia asks Xander sassily "No," he tells her seriously "Why not?" Cordelia demands.

"Because if I tell you, then you won't do it. Just meet me at Willow's house in half an hour. And wear something trashy" He says looking her outfit "..er" I add with a big grin.

Cordelia glares at me but follows Xander out of the library "I'm not sure what we should do about Buffy" Giles asks looking at me but I avoid his gaze "Assuming they don't attack tonight I think we should just let her be" Jenny says quietly.

"I agree," Willow tells them and I nod slowly "I-I-I can imagine what she's going through" Giles mutters to us "No, I don't think you can" I whisper feeling sorry for my sister.

* * *

 

After having to listen to my sister cry all night I was shocked to see her pass me in the school hall looking determined "Buffy?" I shout running after her as she marches straight to Ms. Calendar's classroom where Jenny and Giles smile in greeting.

Buffy goes right past Giles straight to Jenny, puts her hand around her throat and shoves her back onto her desk "Buffy!" Giles shouts and tries to pull her off.

"Buffy" I shout to my sister shocked "What do you know?!" Buffy yells at Jenny as all the students look on "Should I get the principal?" one student says standing up "Sit down" I yelled scaring them.

"No, I-I-I'll deal with this. Y-y-you're, you're all dismissed!" Giles says to the student who gets up but doesn't leave "Beat it!" I shout making them all run, Buffy lets go of Jenny and steps back "Did you do it? Did you change him?"

Giles sighs "For God's sake, calm down!" he shouts at Buffy "Did you know this was gonna happen?" Buffy growls at Jenny ignoring Giles "You can't go around accusing everybody..." Giles starts but Jenny interrupts him.

"I didn't know... exactly. I was told...Oh, God. I was sent here to watch you. They told me to keep you and Angel apart. They never told me what would happen" Jenny tells us and I feel my jaw clench in betrayal.

"Jenny!" Giles whispers surprised "I'm sorry, Rupert, Angel was supposed to pay for what he did to my people," Jenny said looking at Giles sadly "And me? What was I supposed to be paying for?" Buffy asks looking at Jenny seriously.

"I didn't know what would happen until after. I swear I would've told you" Jenny pleads looking at us, Buffy's head drops "So it was me. I did it" she whispers sadly as Jenny nods, "I think so. I mean, if you..."

"I don't understand," Giles says in a demanding tone "The Curse. If Angel achieved true happiness, even just a moment of... He would lose his soul" Jenny says making Giles look at Buffy "W-w-w-h-h-how do you know you were responsible f-for..."

Buffy gives him a look and he takes off his glasses "Oh" I would have smirked at that if this was a funny situation "If there is anything that..." Jenny begins to ask with a solemn look.

"Curse him again" Buffy orders with a serious look "No, I-I can't. I mean, those magicks are long lost even to my people" Jenny says shaking her head "You did it once. It might not be too late to save him" Buffy asks desperately.

"It can't be done. I can't help you" Jenny tells us looking down, I step forward "Then take us to someone who can".

Jenny drives us to a hotel where her uncle Enyos was staying apparently he could help us get Angel back, walking up to his hotel door Jenny knocks before pushing it open and letting us in I gasped as the sight.

"Oh, my God" Jenny screams as she rushes to her uncle, he's laid out on the bed, dead and covered with blood. I look at the wall behind him and nudge Buffy who turns to look at the wall stiffening when she reads the words written in blood, 'WAS IT GOOD FOR YOU TOO'.

"He's doing this deliberately, Buffy. He's trying to make it harder for you" Giles tells Buffy comfortingly but I could see my sisters jaw clench angrily "He's only making it easier. I know what you have to do" she mutters.

"What?" Giles asks looking at us Buffy puts her hands and her hips looking serious "Kill him".

* * *

 

Standing in Giles' office Xander and Oz lift a long crate onto his desk "Happy Birthday, Buffy. I hope you like the color." Xander says as he steps back Buffy looks down at the box, Giles positions a crowbar on the lock.

"Giles, we go to the factory first, but they might not be there. They're on the offensive we need to figure out where they'd go" Buffy orders as Giles lifts up the crowbar and breaks the clasp.

"Agreed" Giles agrees as he opens the box, Buffy and I lean over and look in the box "This is good," Buffy says and I nod in agreement. "Do you, uh..." we turn and see Jenny lingering in the doorway "Is there something I can do?"

"Get out," Buffy tells her seriously still looking inside the box "I-I just want to help" Jenny whispers looking at us sadly "She just said get out" I looked at Giles but he looks sadly into the crate.

"Do you want me to show you how to use it?" Xander asks looking at Buffy as she nods slowly "Yes, I do".

* * *

 

We walk into Spike's warehouse but it's deserted Buffy walks up to the table "I knew it" she sighs as we look around "We haven't a bead on where they would go?" Giles asks I walk around searching the place.

I smirk seeing the back of a familiar blonde vampire hiding behind a pillar "I don't know, uh... somewhere crowded, I guess. I mean, the Judge needs bodies, right?" Buffy sighs thinking "The Bronze?" Willow interjects as she stands by Buffy.

I creep closer to the wheelchair-bound vampire "It's closed tonight" I hear Xander mutter "There's not a lot of choices in Sunnydale. It's not like people are gonna line up to get massacred" Cordelia sassed "Uh, guys? If I were gonna line up, I know where I'd go" Oz calls out and explains to Buffy his thought.

Hearing Buffy walking back out of the warehouse I lean down to Spike's ear "peek a boo" he jumps and sighs "Your lucky I'm looking for Angel" I say patronizingly patting him on the shoulder and walking off.

* * *

 

Standing in the elevator none of us spoke we all knew what going down and no jokes or sarcastic remarks were made, the doors open Buffy and I strides out with Giles and Xander follow carrying the crate on their shoulders, the others behind them.

"Everybody keep back. Damage control only. Take out any lesser vamps if you can. We'll handle the Smurf" I tell them pointing to Buffy and myself they all nod and follow us.

The Judge extends his arms, and his energy arcs out to and through everyone in the area they all freeze where they stand, The judge smiles widely whilst Angelus and Drusilla enjoy the show

Buffy turns to me and nods I lift my crossbow up and aim, the crossbow bolt hits the Judge in the chest and breaks his concentration the arcs of energy disappear, and the people are all dazed, the Judge grabs at the bolt and pulls it from his chest "Who dares?" he shouts looking around.

Angelus and Drusilla look over at the refreshment stand where I was stood on top, holding the crossbow with Buffy next to me "Think I got his attention" I smirked to Buffy who nodded at me.

"You're a fool" The Judge growls to us "No weapon forged can stop me" I smirk at him and sarcastically wave to Drusilla and Angelus "That was then," Buffy says as Xander hands her the weapon from the box, and she raises the anti-tank rocket launcher to her shoulder.

"This is now" I sneer as Buffy powers it on, I laugh as Angelus and Drusilla exchange a look, they begin to run as Buffy takes aim and The Judge just looks at her confused.

Angelus and Drusilla leap over the stair railing "What's that do?" The Judge asks looking at Buffy as she pulls the trigger and the rocket flies straight into the Judge's chest as Angelus and Drusilla fly over the railing.

The Judge disappears in an explosion of flame and smoke the people in the mall scream and start to panic and run, Angelus and Drusilla hit the floor below as bits of charred Judge fall all around them.

Angelus gets up and runs off whilst Drusilla freaks out and runs the other way, we all look over to see what's left of the Judge "Best present ever" Buffy mutters handing the rocket launcher back to Xander "Knew you'd like it" he said taking it back.

"Do you think he's dead?" Willow asks us as the smoke disappears "We can't be sure. Pick up the pieces and keep them separate" Buffy says to us as we start looking over to collect what's left of the Judge "Pieces? We get the pieces. Our job sucks!" Cordelia says as she pouts crossing her arms.

Looking at Buffy I follow her eye line and see Angelus looking up at Buffy as the frightened customers run every which way. Buffy jumps down from the refreshment stand and starts to give chase "Buffy!" I shout as Angelus struggles past some people and runs.

* * *

 

Buffy runs to where she last saw Angelus the sprinklers rain down on her and she's getting soaked, She can't see Angelus anywhere. Suddenly he comes at her and hits her from behind making her fall over backward.

"You know what the worst part was, huh? Pretending that I loved you. If I'd known how easily you'd give it up, I wouldn't have even bothered" Angelus taunts Buffy as she's floored.

Buffy gets up quickly "That doesn't work anymore. You're not Angel" She tells him as they circle each other "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? It doesn't matter. The important thing is you made me the man I am today!" Angelus says as he smiles evilly.

Buffy kicks him in the face Angelus blocks her next swing and punches her in the face and in the gut, he grabs her and swings her around to throw her but she regains her balance, he kicks her in the face and this time she falls to the floor.

* * *

 

I bend down to pick up a piece of the Judge's armor when I shiver from being soaked to the bone by the sprinklers, I look over to Oz who has found an actual body part "Uh... Arm" he calls pointing to a big armor clad arm laying on the floor.

Sighing I wipe my hair away from my face and look around only to see Buffy isn't back yet, putting the armor on the counter I walk over to where I saw Angelus running.

Just as I run over to the back room I hear Buffy grunt in pain I walk through the doorway to see Angelus backhand punch Buffy and she hits the floor "Not quittin' on me already, are ya?" He taunts as she lays dazed on the ground.

I gasp when Angelus turns to me with a smirk "I hoped you'd follow" he says grabbing me and pushing me against the wall "uggh" I grunt as I hit the wall "You're going to be my best work yet" he says with a grin pushing his lips against mine harshly and his hand tight around my throat.

"Angelus!" Buffy shouts as she leaps up and kicks him in the face I drop to the floor trying to breathe, Angelus arches backward and then snaps forward as Buffy knees him in the chin and then delivers a series of punches to his gut.

She ends with a punch to his face but Angelus isn't fazed and lunges at her, she grabs his arm and diverts him into a display case, he crashes through the glass but immediately straightens back up breaking the top pane and the frame of the case as well.

Buffy kicks Angelus in the face and again in the chest and he staggers backward into a potted tree, she pulls out a stake and stands ready to finish the job Angelus straightens up and faces her.

Buffy doesn't move, but instead lowers the stake and just stares at him "You can't do it. You can't kill me" Angelus laughs at Buffy and I sighed knowing it was true she can't kill him.

Buffy glare and kicks Angelus extremely hard in the crotch he grabs his groin and moans in pain as he collapses to his knees, Buffy turns her back on him and I stand by her as we walk away "Give me time".

* * *

 

Giles offers us a ride home in his ancient car. I'm sat in the back as Buffy sits up front with Giles who looks over at Buffy and shuts off the engine with a sigh, the car is silent the only noise is that of the crickets outside.

"It's not over. I-I-I suppose you know that. He'll come after you, particularly. His profile, uh, well, he... he's likely to strike out at the things that made him the most human" Giles says breaking the silence as he looks at Buffy with pity.

"You must be so disappointed in me" She mumbled not looking up "No. No, no, I'm not" Giles tells her as she looks up slowly "But this is all my fault" she whispers looking very guilty.

"No. I don't believe it is. Do you want me to wag my finger at you and tell you that you acted rashly? You did. A-and I can. I know that you loved him. And... he... has proven more than once that he loved you. You couldn't have known what would happen" Giles tells Buffy who nods with a sad look.

"The coming months a-are gonna, are gonna be hard... I, I suspect on all of us, but... if it's guilt you're looking for, Buffy, I'm, I'm not your man. All you will get from me is, is my support. And my respect" Buffy smiles at Giles through her tears.

Saying our goodbyes to Giles, Buffy and I walk into our house where mom was waiting for us to watch crappy films in our pajamas, sitting on the couch with Buffy I sighed as she still made no move to talk to me.

"Please look at me. Talk to me" I beg as she looks at me slowly "What?" she asks looking confused "You have looked at me much less spoken to me since Angelus kissed me... the first time" I say looking in her eyes.

Buffy holds my hand tightly "It's not you" she mumbles she say bring one hand and moving my hair away from my face "I just don't you being a pawn in his stupid game" Buffy says with a serious look.

"I'm not sure what he wants with you but I promise I won't let him hurt you," Buffy says as I lay my head on her shoulder as my eyes drift to the TV where 'Stowaway' an old black-and-white movie with Alice Faye and Robert Young, is playing.

The actors are dancing slowly, and the woman is singing 'Goodnight, My Love' to the man.

_Goodnight, my love / My moment with you now is ending / It was so heavenly holding you close to me_

Mom comes in holding a plate with three cupcakes, two with candles and a large coffee mug "Did I miss anything?" she asks sitting down on the other side of Buffy "Um... just some singing and some running around" I explained to her with a shrug.

Mom sets down the plate and mug and looks around for the matches "Mm. I'm sorry I didn't have time to make you two real cake" Mom says sadly as she finds matches "No. This is good" Buffy tells her shaking her head.

Mom sits back on the couch with her feet up "But we're still going shopping on Saturday" Mom promises as we look at her "So what'd you do for your birthday? Did you two have fun?" She asks us with a smile.

I just shrugged and looked Buffy quietly "I got older" she mumbles looking at us sadly as Mom looks at her face "You look the same to me" she whispers as she leans back to the table and strikes a match to light the candle.

The wick starts to burn and she blows out the match and sets the matchbook back on the table and leans back on the couch again facing us "Happy Birthday, I don't have to sing, do I?" Mom asks with a smile.

"No," Buffy says shaking her head as mom nods to our cakes "Well, go on, make a wish" I wish Buffy was happy... I blew out my candle as Buffy stares at hers for a long moment "I'll just let it burn"

Mom reaches up and strokes Buffy's hair and Buffy leans over to rest her head on mom as silent tears roll down her face, Mom continues to gently stroke Buffy's hair as the song in the movie comes to an end.

_Sleep tight, my love / Goodnight, my love / Remember that you're mine, sweetheart_

Leaning into my sister I put my head on her shoulder and hold her hand smiling when she grips it back tightly, I whisper in her ear softly "Always".


	34. Phases

I couldn't believe it when Cordelia had called us this morning to come and look at her 'daddy's' car but seeing it now I realized why there was a gaping hole missing from the top of it.

Buffy stands on the car inspects the hole in the roof “And you're sure it was a werewolf?” she asks Xander and Cordelia as she gets off of the car “Well, let's see, um, six feet tall, claws, a big old snout in the middle of his face like a wolf. Um, yeah, I'm sticking with my first guess” Xander says sarcastically.

“Seems wise” Oz agrees nodding his head “Oh, oh, and then there was that little thing where it tried to bite us” Xander adds as Cordelia sobs “It was so awful” Xander shushed as he puts his arm around her “Daddy just had this car detailed” Cordelia moaned as she pulls herself away from Xander.

Giles comes up to us with a newspaper “So what's the word?” I ask him “Well, it seems there were a, a number of other attacks by a wild dog around town,” Giles says as he hands me the paper “Several animal carcasses were found mutilated” he added showing me.

“You mean, like bunnies and stuff?” Willow asks looking upset “No, don't tell me” she begged “Oh, don't worry. I mean, they might not look it, but bunnies can really take care of themselves” Oz tells her reassuringly.

Willow looks calmer and smiles “Yeah” Oz nods with a soft smile “Yeah” I rolled my eyes and gave the paper back to Giles “Yes, uh, um, fortunately, no people were injured”

“That falls into the 'that's a switch' column,” Buffy says sarcastically as Giles nods “Well, for now. But my guess is that this werewolf will be back at next month's full moon” Giles tells us.

“What about tonight's full moon?” Willow asks looking at Giles “Pardon?” Giles questions “Well, last night was the night before the full moon, traditionally known as... 'the night before the full moon.” Willow says as she looks around getting quieter as she notices us staring.

“Meaning the accepted legend that werewolves only prowl during a full moon might be erroneous,” Giles says with his usual stutter “Or it could be a crock” Cordelia stats not realizing that's just what Giles basically said.

“Unless the werewolf was using last year's almanac” Xander adds looking at us “Looks like Giles has some schooling to do” Buffy giving our watcher with a smile.

Giles nods quickly “Yes, I must admit I, I am intrigued. Werewolves, it's... it's one of the classics” he rambles as he starts to walk away “I, I'm sure my books and I are in for a fascinating afternoon” he says with a grin and leaves “He needs to get a pet” Buffy tells us as we all agree as we all walk to Gym class.

Sitting on the bleachers listening to the self-defense coach I let out a small yawn making her raise an eyebrow at me “Sorry” I mutter with an apologetic smile.

Coach just nods “Sunnydale is becoming more dangerous all the time. And a full moon like tonight tends to bring out the crazies, but with some simple basics of self-defense each of you can learn how to protect yourself”.

Buffy moves closer to Willow and I “Here's a suggestion: move away from the Hellmouth” I let out a snort of laughter making the coach sigh “Summers” I grimace and mutter another sorry.

“What you wanna do is gain advantage of the situation as quickly as possible” Coach continues on as Willow turns and looks at Oz confused making Buffy and I do the same.

“Tag,” He tells her putting her tag back inside her shirt and pats her on the back gently, Willow smiles at us happily as we watch the exchange “Your attacker may have the benefit of surprise” Coach drones on again.

“Psst! Hey, buddy, this is a public forum here” Xander whisper yells making us look back at him confused “I think you splashed on just a little too much 'Obsession For Dorks'” Cordelia rolls her eyes.

“By being prepared, you have the power. Okay, everyone get into your assigned groups” I smile and stand following Willow and Oz as Buffy walks away to her group as Larry starts making lewd comments to Theresa.

Buffy sides beside Theresa and smirks at Larry dangerously, Willow walks up behind her takes her arm and pulls her over to me “Don't forget, you're supposed to be a meek little girlie-girl like the rest of us” Willow says making Buffy pout.

“Spoil my fun” Buffy mutters before seeing me looking at her seriously “She's right Buff,” I tell her before walking off to rejoin Willow and Oz.

Everyone is soon lined up and paired off, girls in front, boys in back I smile at my classmate Greg as he stands behind me with a smirk, I just laughed knowing I could take him.

“Okay, everyone, listen up. I wanna show you what to do should you be attacked from behind. In this situation, bend forward, using your back and shoulders to flip the assailant over to the ground” Coach bends Buffy forward to demonstrate.

I bend forward and grimace when Greg put his arm around me and I pretend to struggle against him trying to keep myself from flipping him and knocking that smirk off his face.

I look over and see Buffy grab Larry's arm and pretends at a few attempts to flip him over “Ugh! Ugh!” She mock grunts as Larry laughs “Oh, Summers, you are turning me on”.

Suddenly Larry is thrown over Buffy's shoulder effortlessly and the whole class turns to Buffy in shock, Willow looks at me and I sigh pushing Greg away from me.

“That works, too,” Oz says quietly as I walked over to Buffy who had her arms crossed “What happened to being meek?” I asked her quietly as I looked around.

“He touched my butt,” Buffy told me with a pout “Listen I know that's hard but you have to remember you're not the only one with this secret to protect,” I tell her walking over to the showers leaving behind a guilty looking twin.

* * *

 

I watch half asleep as Giles is demonstrating the phases of the moon “And, uh, while there's absolutely no scientific explanation for lunar effect on the human psyche, uh, the phases of the moon, uh, do seem to exert a great deal of psychological influence. And th-the full moon is, is, seems to bring out our darkest qualities”

“And yet, ironically, uh, led to the invention of the moon pie,” Xander says with a laugh as we all look at him with straight faces until Giles laughs obviously getting the joke.

“Oh... Yes, the moon pie” Giles laughs harder getting looks from us “Y-you see, uh, the-the werewolf, uh, is such a, a potent e-e-extreme representation of our inborn animalistic traits that it e-emerges for three full consecutive nights the full moon and, uh, the two nights surrounding it”

“Quite the party animal” Xander calls out getting no response “Quite. And it, uh, acts on-on pure instinct. No conscience, uh, uh, predatory and, and aggressive” I nod with a straight face “In other words, your typical male”.

Xander looks at me shocked “On behalf of my gender, hey” I just give him a look and we both turn to look at Giles “Yes, let's not jump to any conclusions” he says looking at me with a frown.

“She didn't jump. She took a tiny step, and there conclusions were” Buffy said as she nodded at me “Good to see we're on the same page” I tell her with a look. “The point is that our wolfman could also be a-a-a wolfwoman, or-or anyone who was bitten by a werewolf” Giles stutters as we all look around in thought.

“So then I'm guessing your standard silver bullets are in order here?” Xander questions Giles who shakes his head rapidly “No. No bullets. No matter who this werewolf is, i-it's still a human being, who may be completely unaware of his or her condition”

We all nod soberly thinking about the person who in their human state could be the sweetest person ever but a killing machine when in werewolf form “So tonight we bring 'em back alive” Buffy says as she looks at us all with a meaningful look.

* * *

 

Sighing I looked around the cars with Giles as Buffy looked in the other direction, we walked over to the secluded area of the park, the moon was full and several cars are parked there with couples making out.

I snigger as I watch Giles walks by some cars holding his flashlight out in front of him looking very disturbed, smirking I looked over to Buffy who walked over to us “Anything yet?” Giles whispered.

“Yes. And you won't believe what I saw. Brittany Podell was making out with Owen Stadeel, but he goes with Barrett Williams” Buffy whispers excitedly as Giles and I gave her a look.

“Uhh... No, um, no, no sign of the werewolf. How about you?” Buffy asks sheepishly “Same,” I told her with a sigh, “I thought we might, uh... I thought we might knock on a few windows, uh, ask if anyone has seen anything yet” Giles suggests with a stutter as he points behind himself.

Buffy and I look at him wide-eyed “Giles, no one's seen anything” Buffy tells him and his eyes pop open in realization “Oh, yes. No, of-of-of course not, no. Yes” Giles walks off making me and Buffy laugh “I'll go keep him safe,” I told her.

Catching up with Giles we scan around with the flashlight but see nothing “This is a bust” I mutter angrily “Hopefully Buffy finds something useful” Giles says as he flashes his torch around until he accidentally flashes the light at one of the cars.

“Dude” the boys calls covering up making Giles blush “Ohh so..uh so sorry” he stutters walking us away quickly “and that Giles is Brittany Podell and Owen Stadeel” I tell him with a small laugh until my blood runs cold from a single scream “Nikki!”.

Running to the bushes I left Giles behind me as I tuned into my sisters screaming “Hey!” I shouted bursting through the bushes as I see Buffy in a net and a man holding a gun.

Giles runs through the bushes behind me and instantly sees the scene in front of us “Whoa!” he says holding his arms up “Hands are good right about there” The man says pointing his gun at us.

“Who, who are you? What are you doing?” Giles stuttered as he looked at the man who was stoically eyeing us, my eyes twitch and so did my hands before Giles looked at me and shook his head.

“The name's Cain. I'm the one with the gun, which means I'm the one who gets to do the interviewing” Cain drawls as he looks at the two of us over his gun “Ahem. Hey, before we get all chummy here, how about we do something about me being in this net thing?” Buffy asks looking through the net holes.

Cain exhales, lowers the gun and leans it against a boulder as he pulls out his knife and cuts the rope holding up the net, and Buffy hits the ground hard “You alright?” Giles asks Buffy as she gets the net off of her.

“Yeah” Buffy mutters when I help her up “Gotta say, I'm impressed,” Cain said with a laugh as Buffy stood by us with an angry look on her face.

“Excuse me?” Giles asks Cain confused “Well, it's good to get the fruit while it's fresh and 2 of them at that” my mouth drops open at Cain's insinuation “You'd be wise to take that back,” Giles told Cain calmly but I felt him tense up next to us.

Cain put his hands up “Hey, what a man and 2 girls do in lovers' lane at night is nobody's busi...” Giles makes a move toward Cain, but Buffy holds him back.

“Oh, okay, hey, enough, repulsive brain. It's not what you think. We're hunting werewolves” Buffy tells Cain slowly making Cain laugh boisterously “Okay, it's funny if you don't believe in werewolves” Buffy questions.

“No, it's funny thinking about you two catching one. I mean, this guy looks like he's auditioning to be a librarian, and, you two, well, you're girls” Cain told us mockingly.

“I assure you they're quite capable” I smile as Giles defends our badassery but Cain still nodded sarcastically “Uh-huh. Lemme ask you something, sweethearts. Exactly how many of these animals have you taken out?” Cain asked looking at us.

Buffy looked at me and grimaced “As of today?” I asked him with a frown “I tore a tooth from the mouth of every werewolf that I killed” Cain told us showing his necklace which had 11 teeth on them “This next one will bring the total to an even dozen”.

I frowned at Cain as he tucks his necklace away “So you're just gonna kill it?” Buffy asks sadly “Well, see, that's the thing. Their pelts fetch a pretty penny in Sri Lanka, and it's a little hard to skin 'em when they're alive” Cain tells us.

“Y-you hunt werewolves f-for sport?” Giles stutters looking disgusted as Cain smirked “No, no, I'm in it purely for the money” I looked at him with a grimace “And it doesn't bother you that a werewolf is a person twenty-eight days out of the month?”

Cain gave me a dirty smirk “That's why I only hunt 'em the other three. I'd really love to stay and chat, but I'm on a tight schedule. Any idea where else the boys and girls like to get together around here?” Cain asked picking up his bag and gun.

“You're looking for a party?” Buffy scoffs as Cain shakes his head “No, but the werewolf is. They're suckers for that whole sexual heat thing. Sense it miles away. Since this little doggie ain't here, I guess he found another place”.

I glared at Cain when his eyes met mine “Sorry. Wish I could help you” I tell him obviously lying “But you don't know squat? Gee, what a surprise” Cain says sarcastically before leaving.

We head back to Giles' car quickly “Where are we going?” Giles asks trying to keep up with us “I think I know where to look. We just have to make it there before mein furrier” Buffy tells him with a hard look on her face.

Driving up to the bronze we see all the patrons flee for their lives “Looks as though your hunch was right” Giles tell us as Buffy and I start to get out of the car “Who could resist Sunnydale's own house of hormones?” Buffy says to me.

Suddenly I'm grabbed, turning quickly I sigh seeing Willow “The werewolf, it's in there” Buffy and I make a dash for the door as it's about to be shut by the bouncer “Coming through!” I shout as we squeeze our way through the door.

The place has been trashed by the panicked people, I see sees a shadow behind a bead curtain we slowly walk forward and Buffy takes off her backpack and pulls out a chain.

Climbing the stairs Buffy points me in the direction of the office and she goes through another door leading to the stage, walking slowly into the office I look around seeing paperwork and filing cabinets on the floor but no werewolf.

Suddenly I hear snarling in the direction of the stage, running out of the office I run onto the stage just to have Buffy thrown into me as we both fall back through the drum set.

We watch as the werewolf throws itself around making the chain Buffy had put on its neck drop as it makes a dash for a window, groaning I pushed Buffy off me as The Bronze employees are back and begin to straighten things up.

Buffy puts her chain back into her backpack as Cain walks towards us “Oh god what are you doing here?” I moaned irritated as Buffy looked up to see Cain “You let it get away” he called to us annoyed.

“I didn't let it do anything. I had the chain around its neck” Buffy tells him “Chain? What were you gonna do, take it for a walk?” Cain asks sarcastically.

“I was going to lock it up” Buffy mutters quietly “That's beautiful, This is what happens when 2 girls try to do a man's job,” Cain tells us almost threateningly as Giles comes up behind Cain.

“Now, you look here, Mr. Cain. These girls risked their lives trying to capture a beast that you haven't as yet been able to find” Giles says to Cain with a small growl, Cain looks Giles up and down “Uh-huh. And Daddy's doing a great job carrying their bag of milk bones”.

Cain steps closer to us with a sneer on his face “You know if that thing out there harms anyone, it's going to be on your pretty little heads. I hope you can live with that”.

I step forward and stare Cain down “We live with that every day” Buffy steps up beside me as Cain shakes his head in disgust “First they tell me I can't hunt an elephant for its ivory...Now I've gotta deal with People for the Ethical Treatment of Werewolves”.

We all watch as Cain stalks away “Pillock!” Giles mutters under his breath picking up his bag before turning to us “Right, let's move out” I sigh following him “What an asshole”.

“Ow, Buffy! That's my foot!” I grunted as we trying to find our unfriendly neighborhood werewolf “Sorry” Buffy whispers as we walk back over to Giles' car “Giles?” She calls but no one answers we both run to the car worried “Giles!” We shout in unison.

Giles wakes and sits up in his chair “Uhh!” he muffles as he takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes, we both breathe a sigh of relief “I didn't see you there, we thought something had happened”.

“Oh, no, I'm, uh...” Buffy opens the passenger door and lets me climb in before she gets into the car. “I'm okay. I'm just, um, fine... uh, just, uh, I'm, uh.... Uh, any sign of the, uh, werewolf?” Giles asks us as he puts his glasses back on.

“No. I'm guessing you didn't see anything either from that vantage point of having your eyes closed,” I tell him with a small smirk “It's, uh, it's, it's, uh, gonna be light soon, so we'd better...” Giles started until he was interrupted by Buffy pointing to the radio “Wait”.

“Police say that the incident was apparently connected to the animal mutilation which occurred two nights ago. The coroner's office has identified the body as that of Sunnydale High School student Theresa Klusmeyer, age seventeen. The authorities ask that anyone with further information...”

Buffy and I sat shocked as we listened to the radio “Damn poor Theresa” I sighed as I ran a hand through my hair “Girls, we're gonna get this thing. We have another whole night. There's nothing more we can do now. It's nearly sunrise that werewolf won't be a werewolf much longer” Giles gave us both a comforting look.

* * *

  
Pacing in the library the next morning the death of Theresa had really gotten to me, I had the werewolf in my sight but I let it get away and then it killed Theresa.

Willow is sat at the table with Giles behind her, and Xander is leaning against the counter as Buffy and I beat ourselves up “I can't believe I let that thing get away. Cain was right. I shoulda killed it when I had the chance”.

Oz comes in and looks at us all confused “Killed what?” We all turned to look at Oz “Uh, the, uh, the werewolf. It-it-it was out last night” Buffy told Oz with a frown.

Oz looked at everyone with a panicked expression “Is everybody okay? Did anyone get bitten or, or scratched?” We all shook our heads and Willow gave Oz a soft smile “No, we're fine” Oz sighed happily as he continued to walk over to us “Gladness”.

I turned to Oz with a heavy sigh “Yeah, but he got someone. Theresa.” Oz looked at me with a look of shock “Got, as in...” I just looked at him and briefly raised my eyebrows.

“Oh, I'm sorry” Oz whispered with a frown “And we coulda stopped it,” Buffy said as she sat down with a look of sadness “Well, we, we have one more night,” Giles tells us trying to keep our spirits up.

“Another night?” Oz asks sounding shocked “Oh, yeah. Believe me, I'm gonna give that wolfie something to howl about” I told Oz with a tight voice.

“But while we hang here doing nothing, there's a human werewolf walking around out there, probably making fun of us,” Xander says seriously “The way werewolves always do” Willow deadpans.

“But there's really no way to tell who it is,” Oz asks and I look at him weirdly he was asking too many questions “Oh, sure there is. Giles knows stuff, and I'm practically an expert on the subject” Xander tells Oz.

“On account of once you were a hyena?” Willow mutters to Xander “You were a what?” I asked Xander who just nodded at me “I know what it's like to crave the taste of freshly killed meat, to be taken over by those uncontrollable urges”.

“You said you didn't remember anything about that” Buffy said to Xander who gave a small nervous chuckle, “I said I didn't remember anything about that”.

“Look, the point is, is I have an affinity with this thing. I can get inside of its head” Xander says as he closes his eyes and begins to be the werewolf “I'm a big, bad wolf. I'm on the prowl.”

We all look at Xander weirdly as he begins to sniff “I'm sniffing, I'm snarling, I'm a slobbering predator, I'm...” Xander's eyes pop open “Wait a second! It's right in front of us” I watch in interest as Oz's eye go wide “It's obvious who I am. I'm Larry!” Xander exclaims and Oz breathes a sigh of relief making me eye him suspiciously.

“The guy's practically got wolf-boy stamped on his forehead. You got the dog bite, you got the aggression, not to mention the excessive back hair” Xander told us excitedly like he cracked the case.

Buffy nodded “And he was awfully gleeful about tormenting Theresa” I sighed remembering how he was in gym “Still, that doesn't necessarily mean that...” Giles started but Xander interrupted him “I'm gonna go talk to him. Gonna force a confession out of him”.

“Good. Go. Uh, in the meantime, we need to cover our bases. Willow, um, check the student files. See if anybody else fits the profile. Nikki, can you help her? Uh, Buffy?” Giles said ushering Buffy to follow him when Willow and I nod.

“Where are we going?” Buffy asks from her seat “I-if none of that works, I think I may have an alternative” Giles says as he goes into his office “Yeah, me and the werewolf alone in a cage for three minutes. That's all I ask” Buffy tells us as she gets up and follows Giles.

“Are you okay?” Willow asks Oz who seems deep in thought “What?” he asks when he sees us both staring at him “You kind of knew Theresa” Willow says softly “Oh, yeah, I, uh, I'm trying not to think about it. It's... it's a lot” Oz nods looking uncomfortable.

“It is. But we can do stuff to help. Sometimes it feels good to help” Willow says to Oz in a tempting voice “Uh-huh” Oz nods but still seems distracted “Well, like... looking up stuff. we're gonna be doing that most of the night. You could help me, us, help together?” Willow stutters but Oz frowns “I can't. Um, uh, I'm busy”.

My eyebrows raise in surprise “Oh. So...” Willow tries again but Oz shakes his head “I... I gotta go” he says running out of the library, Willow looks down sadly.

“I'll be back” I call running out of the library after Oz, running down the halls I see his locker door wide open, walking closer to his locker I stood behind the door with a straight face.

Oz sighed before slamming his locker shut only to jump when he sees me “Oh you're good at the creeping thing” Oz said as I continue to eye him carefully he seems on edge which is suspicious for Oz anyway “So Oz when were you going to tell everyone you're the werewolf?”.

Oz looked at me carefully as his face dropped “Uh I? You know?” he asked rubbing his neck “How do you know?” I looked at Oz and shook my head “That's not important, what is important is telling Giles and the others” I told him.

“Not now later” he said I looked at him with a frown “Please just until after the full moon” I looked at Oz angrily “You think I'm going to let you run free wolf boy nuh uh” I growled at him “No you see I'm going to lock myself up at home” Oz told me with a sincere look.

I groaned feeling bad “Uh okay but just for tonight and I'm chaining you up” I tell him patting my backpack which held many tools for slaying and other things, Oz nodded with a small appreciative smile “I never thought I'd be chaining you up Oz” I told him with a wink as he gives me a small laugh.

* * *

 

Willow is on her laptop as Buffy comes out of Giles' office and goes over to her “So what's the scuttlebutt? Anybody besides Larry fit our werewolf profile?” Buffy asks sitting on the table and looks at Willow.

“There is one name that keeps getting spit out. Aggressive behavior, run-ins with authorities, about a screenful of violent incidents” Willow says as they both smile a little “My sister is not the werewolf plus most of those were not her fault. Plus if she's a suspect so am I” Buffy says with a laugh.

Willow looks at the computer as she reads all of Nikki's indiscretions “Someone should really tell her it's a good idea to count to ten when you're angry” Willow looks up to see Buffy's serious face.

“I'll keep looking” Willow mutters quietly as she goes back to work “I, um... noticed you were looking solo,” Buffy says slowly looking at Willow “Yeah. Oz wanted to be someplace that was away... from me” Willow whispers.

“Then Nikki ran out shortly after him” Willow pouts “Don't worry if Nikki knows something she'll have your back,” Buffy tells Willow with a smile “I can't figure him out. I mean, he's so hot and cold. Or luke-warm and cold” Willow moans as she leans back in her chair.

“Welcome to the mystery that is men. I think it goes something like, they grow body hair, they lose all ability to tell you what they really want” Buffy says with a frown “It doesn't seem like a fair trade” Willow mutters as she stands up and puts her laptop in its case.

“Well, if you wanna up the speed quotient with Oz, maybe you need to do something daring. Maybe you need to make the first move” Buffy offers as she slides off of the table and Willow follows her “Well, that won't make me a slut?”

“I think your reputation will remain intact” Buffy smiles as she looks at her best friend “It used to be so much easier to tell if a boy liked you. He'd punch you on the arm and then run back to his friends” Willow frowns as Buffy nods slowly.

“Those were the days” Buffy agrees as Xander comes up to them “Hey,” he says as he lightly taps Buffy on the arm “I'll see you guys later. Cordelia asked me to look over her history homework before class. I think that means I might have to do it” Willow groans as she walks off.

“Wow, those two gals are hanging out a lot together. This would be a good time to panic” Xander mutters with a look of terror Buffy lets out a laugh and they start down the hall “So how'd it go with Larry?” Buffy asked Xander offhandedly.

Xander stops dead and turns to Buffy “What's that supposed to mean?” Buffy looks at Xander confused “I think it's supposed to mean, so how'd it go with Larry?” She stops at her locker and reaches for the combination lock.

Xander laughs nervously “He's not the werewolf. Can't we just leave it at that? Must you continue to push and push?” Buffy opens her locker “I'm sorry. I was just wondering” she says as she takes off her pack.

“Well, he's not” Xander shouts out as Buffy looks at him weirdly “Okay” she shrugs “Okay” Xander agrees looking around anxiously “But there goes our lead suspect” she says as she sticks her bag in her locker “Which then puts us right back at square boned.” she sighs shutting her locker door.

“You're not boned, you're Buffy. Eradicator of evil. Defender of, um... things that need defending.” Xander says trying to raise his friend's spirits “Tell that to Theresa. She could have used my defending before she was ripped apart by that...” Buffy stops mid-sentence and considers.

“Werewolf” Xander finishes as Buffy shakes her head “Nowhere in any of the reports did it say anything about her being mauled. I mean, they were linked to the animal attacks from the other night, so we just assumed werewolf”.

Xander looked at Buffy confused not realizing what she was getting at or where she was going with those thoughts “What else should we have assumed?”.

* * *

 

I sigh looking out of Oz's dining room window to see the full moon rising “Okay ready?” I ask him as I turn and see him sat at the dinner table with a box full of shackles and locks, he looks at them and considers a moment before nodding and picking up one of the shackles.

I walk over to him and help him put it on his wrist I was just about to put the lock on when there's a knocking at the door, I look up but Oz ignores it as I move to put it on there's another knock on the door.

“Get rid of them,” I tell him when he looks at me in frustration as I set the lock and shackles down, the knocking continues insistently as Oz goes over to the door and opens it he finds an irate Willow standing there.

My eyes open wide when I see her at the door “Willow! What are you doing?” Oz asks sounding just as shocked as I felt “I had this whole thing worked out and I had it written down, uh, but then it didn't make any sense when I was reading it back” Willow rambles as she talks to Oz.

“Willow, this is not a very good time,” Oz says and I back into the kitchen so I wasn't seen “I mean, what am I supposed to think? First, you buy me popcorn and then you're all glad that I didn't get bit” Willow stops to catch her breath.

“And you put the tag back in my shirt but I guess none of that means anything because instead of looking up names with me, here you are all alone in your house doing nothing by yourself” Willow finishes harshly and I heard Oz sigh.

“Willow, we'll talk about this tomorrow. I promise” Oz says trying to bargain with her “No, damn it! We'll talk about this now! Buffy told me that sometimes what a girl makes has to be the first move and now that I'm saying this, I'm starting to think that the written version sounded pretty good, but you know what I mean” Willow tells him strongly.

“I know, I know, it's me. I'm, I'm goin' through some... changes” My eyes widen when Oz says changes I walk to the window and look out again and panic seeing the full moon in all it's glory.

“Well, welcome to the world! Things happen. Don't you think I'm going through a lot?” Willow cries but Oz sighs again “Not like me” Willow scoffs “Oh, what, so now you're special? You're special boy...With chains and stuff. Why do you have chains and stuff?” Willow asks as Oz groans in pain.

Running out of the dining room I reach for Oz as Willow looks at us sadly “Nikki?” she whispers “Willow, please! Get outta here!” Oz shouts making Willow let out a small sob.

Willow stares at him confused “You two?” she whispers I look at her confused before it dawns on me “No Will there is no us two it's not what it looks like” I tell her grabbing the chains.

Oz back away “It's too late just go both of you” he groans as he holds his chest, Willow looks at me “What's going on” she cries looking at me as Oz falls behind the couch.

“Oz? Oz, what is it?” She slowly approaches the couch “Willow don't!” I shout but she ignores me and continues forward “What's wrong?” Hearing Oz moaning in pain Willow takes another step.

“Willow” I call grabbing her arm when suddenly Oz as a werewolf leaps to his feet and growls at her, she screams and jumps backward away from him “Nikki!” jumping in front of her I send a kick to Oz knocking him away from us “Run!” I scream grabbing Willow's arm.

“I'm sorry I thought you were cheating with Oz” Willow shouts to me in between screaming, pulling open the back door I pushed Willow out before following her “It's ok” I shouted back as we continued to run with a snarling Oz following us.

Willow and I run through the streets the Oz-werewolf comes around the corner chasing after us, Willow jumps up onto a wooden fence and tries to pull herself over I roll my eyes and push her over she lands with a small “Ow”.

“Ahh” I shout seeing that Oz has caught up to us and lurched at me, putting my arm up in front of me I grunted as Oz bit into my cast “Nikki are you still alive?” I ignored Willows calls as my cast crushes between Oz's teeth.

Kicking Oz away I jumped over the fence seeing Willow stood there with a trash can in her hands, she picks it up and smashes it into Oz-werewolf's face as he tries to climb over after us “Come on” I tell her grabbing her hand and pulling her in the direction of the library.

We run quickly through the trees with Oz-werewolf not far behind. I jump over a log only to see Willow trips and fall to the ground. she rolls to face the werewolf and looks at it in terror I quickly run back and stand in front of Willow protectively.

Oz-werewolf walks up to us but it doesn't attack he stands straight instead and sniffs the air he looks around for the direction of the scent and rushes off, I quickly pull Willow to her feet and run the other way.

Getting to school we run through the halls to the library as quickly as we could, Buffy and Giles stood together looking over a gun “It's Oz! It's Oz!” Willow screams as Giles and Buffy look at us shocked.

“Wh-what's Oz?” Buffy asks looking at Willow but she's too busy trying to breathe “The werewolf” I tell them as they look shocked “Are you certain?” Giles asked looking at us.

Willow nods frantic “Can't you just trust me on this? He-he said he was going through all these changes. Then he went through all these... changes and..and Nikki was there”

Buffy walks over to us “Where is he now?” Willow sighed and bowed her head “In the woods” Giles looked at Buffy and I before picking up his gun “Let's go” Willow grabs Giles and stops him “Go where? You're not gonna kill Oz! Yeah, he's a werewolf, but he doesn't mean to be”.

Buffy grabs Willow by her arms “Don't worry, Willow. We're not going to hurt him” Buffy said soothingly as we all started out of the library “I put enough Phenobarbital in this thing to sink a small elephant. It should be enough for a large werewolf”. Giles says as he grabs his coat from the counter and holds the door open for us.

“You hope” I mutter rolling my eyes “Nikki where's your cast?” Buffy asks as I look at my bare arm “Oz ate it” I muttered as we all climbed into Giles' tiny car.  
\--  
Running from the car to where we last saw Oz I glared when I saw Cain behind a bush gun in hand, rushing over to him I gave him a kick just as he was about to pull the trigger.

He fell to the ground making his gun fire, Oz-werewolf looks up from his meal at the commotion and Buffy grabs Cain's gun wrestling him for it. She flips the rifle over and he follows, landing on his back and letting go of the gun in the process.

Running I grab the fallen gun as Cain tries to get up I swing the butt of the rifle around and knocks him down and out. Oz werewolf comes at me and I duck his lunge, I scream as Oz lifts me off my feet.

I push him back using Cain's gun to keep me from being bitten “Buffy!” I scream when my telekinesis failed me, Buffy runs over and kicks Oz off of me, dropping to the floor I watched as Buffy kicks and punches Oz-werewolf until he picks Buffy up and throws her right into Giles and Willow, bowling them over.

Oz turns and growls at me as I try to scramble away until he staggers and falls over unconscious I look up to see Willow holding the dart gun in her hand looking shocked “I shot Oz” she cried out loud as I picked myself up from the floor Cain's gun still in hand.

“You saved us” Giles reassured Willow who was looking very pale right now, I walked over to Buffy, Willow and Giles just as Cain comes to he gets to his feet and straightens his coat.

“No wonder this town's overrun with monsters, no one here's man enough to kill 'em” Cain grumbles as he watches me walk towards him gun in hand “Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that,” I told him with a dangerous smirk.

Cain's eyebrows raise as I grab the end of the gun barrel and bend it into a nice arc right in front of him and then thrust it at him as he looks at me in astonishment.

“How about you let the door hit you in the ass on the way out of town?” Buffy says as she stands by me crossing her arms over her chest, Cain makes a move to go but stops to gives us another look.

We all glare back at him, and then watch as he leaves. I turn and looks down at Willow who's crouched next to Oz the werewolf and gets down with her “You think it'll be okay?” She whispers to me as we both look up at Giles.

“He'll be a little sore in the morning, but... he'll be Oz” Giles assures with a small smile “Now I want to know why you were keeping it a secret,” Giles says looking at me over his glasses.

I looked at them all as they stared at me “He made me, he had these puppy dog eyes, okay!” I pouted as we continued to look down to the unconscious werewolf “Damn dog” I mutter making everyone laugh.

* * *

 

Sighing I crossed my arms I walked down the hall at school with Buffy and Xander, it was all over but now the only thing we have to worry about is the fact that Oz is the werewolf and needs to be locked up at every full moon.

“This is all so weird. I mean, how are we supposed to act when we see him?” Xander asks “Well, it's gotta be weird for him, too. Now that we know so much” Buffy replied and I nodded my head in agreement “All I know is I'll never be able to look at him the same again” Xander confesses.

I frowned at him “He's still a human being... Most of the time” Xander turned around frowning “Who are we talking about?” I crossed my arms confused “Oz. Who are you talking about?” Xander's eyes widened “No one”.

We all turned to see Larry's jock friends knocking a girl's books out of her hands and laughing until Larry comes down the stairs behind her and quickly reaches down to help her pick up her books.

“Hey, let me get those” Larry smiles before picking up the girls books “Thanks” We all give him a surprised look as he comes over to us “Hey! Xander. Look, about what you did. I, I owe you”.

Buffy and I give them both a weird look “What'd you do?” Buffy asks as Xander starts to look panicky “It's really nothing we should be talking about” Xander stutters turning to Larry “Ever”. Larry nods quickly “I know, I know. It's just, well, thanks” he says kindly before walking off.

“That was weird,” Buffy says as we go to the table and sit “What, it's not okay for one guy to like another guy just because he happened to be in the locker room with him when absolutely nothing happened and I thought I told you not to push” Xander shouts looking anxious.

Buffy gives him a wide-eyed look “All I meant is that he didn't try to look up my skirt” Xander fidgets with his hands and laughs “Oh, oh, yeah, that's, that's the weirdness”

“You're the weirdness” I retorted as I drank my dr pepper “Weirdness abounds lately. Maybe it's the moon. That does stuff to people” Buffy says before give me a look “So Oz at your cast?”.

I look down at my free arm with a happy smile “Yeah thank god, although it was useful for hitting people 'accidentally'.” Buffy nods and we walk outside before she turns to look at me again “so Nikki have you ever thought about counting to ten?”.


	35. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Sitting on top of a headstone I looked at the heart-shaped locket that Xander is dangling in front of my face, I sighed why did I let Buffy stay home and grovel now I have to talk with Xander about Valentine's Day.

"So, what do you think?" Xander asks me excitedly making me gulp "It's nice," I say indifferent "but do you think Cordelia will like it?".

I sighed quietly again "I don't know" I pulled it to me to take a closer look "Does she know what one of these is?" I ask with a wide grin, Xander yanks it out of my hand "Okay, big yuks. When are you guys gonna stop making fun of me for dating Cordelia?" he questions looking serious.

I looked down and pretended to think "I'm sorry but never" Xander nods smiling "I just think you could find somebody more... better" I tell him gently "Uh, parallel universe, maybe" he says before looking into my eyes "Here the only other people I'm interested in are, um... unavailable or/and uninterested.".

Xander coughs awkwardly "Besides, Cordy and I are really getting along. We're not fighting as much, and yesterday we just sat together, not even speakin'. You know, just, uh, enjoying the comfortable silence" Xander says as grins and laughs "Man, that was dull".

I give him a small smile "I'm glad that you guys are getting along..." Xander just looks at me seriously "Dude I'm trying" I tell him with a laugh "And don't stress over the gift".

Xander sighs "Well, this is new territory for me. I mean, my valentines are usually met with heartfelt restraining orders" I look at Xander with sympathy "She'll love it" I tell him confidently.

"I wish dating was like slaying you know, simple, direct, stake to the heart, no muss, no fuss" Xander says as a vampire rises from the fresh grave, Xander reacts quickly and jerks back as the newly risen demon comes for him, but he trips and falls backward onto his butt.

I hop off of the gravestone and grab the vampire from behind as he is about to grab Xander and throw him away from us. He hits the ground hard, his momentum carries him into a reverse somersault, and he rolls to his feet.

He starts to come at me, I leap at him and do a double kick to his chest with both feet in rapid succession and land on my feet as the vampire staggers back into the corner column of a small mausoleum.

I go to him, but he blocks my first two punches and ducks a third swing. My fourth and fifth punches land on his face, but he isn't fazed. He pushes me aside into the wall of the mausoleum, and after regaining his balance comes at me again.

I slide down the wall and kicks out with my leg, making him trip and spin down to the ground. As he gets up I leap at him with a high kick and knocks him back down again.

I reach into my jacket for a stake, and when the vampire stands back up again and tries to make a grab for me I plunge it into his chest as he immediately bursts into a cloud of ashes.

I yank the stake back and watch with satisfaction as the ash rains to the ground, I head back over to Xander and give him a hand back up to his feet "Sorry to say, Xand, slaying is a tad more perilous than dating".

"Well, you're obviously not dating Cordelia" Xander mutters making me laugh with a dark smirk "Guess I'm just lucky".

* * *

 

I shift in my seat uncomfortably as the bruises from my midnight slaying rubbed against my chair I was in no mood to pay attention to American Literature today, I sigh with relief as the bell rings.

"Papers on my desk. Anybody tries to leave without giving me a paper is looking at a failing grade" Ms. Beakman calls out to the class as we all get up to go "Ha, ha, ha. This time I'm ready for you. No 'F' for Xander today. No, this baby's my ticket to a sweet D-minus" Xander says shaking his paper happily.

Rolling my eyes I stood up and pulled my paper out of my binder and walked down the aisle behind Willow who was behind Amy "Hey, Amy" Willow says to the blonde happily "Hey. Are you guys going to the Valentine's Day dance at the Bronze? I think it's gonna be a lot of fun" Amy asks looking at the four of us as we all wear different expressions.

Willow turns to look at us with a huge smile on her face "Go ahead. You know you wanna say it" Buffy says to Willow who faces Amy again, grinning broadly "My boyfriend's in the band!".

Amy smiles and laughs "Cool" Willow looks back at us, "I think you've now told everybody" I mutter rolling my shoulder in pain "Only in this hemisphere" Willow grins as she pulls on her backpack.

Amy looks at Buffy and I "What about you two?" Buffy waves her off "Oh, Valentine's Day is just a cheap gimmick to sell cards and chocolate" Amy grimaces when Buffy's words cut like a knife "Bad breakup, huh?".

Buffy nods seriously "Believe me when I say, 'uh-huh'" Amy turns to look at me "What about you?" I give a small laugh "Valentine's isn't really my thing" Amy nods with a smile as we all walk up to Ms. Beakman's desk, and Buffy hands in her paper.

"Thank you," Ms. Beakman says, Buffy heads out of the room as Willow and I hold up our papers as well. Xander is just making his way down the aisle behind Amy "Thank you" Ms. Beakman says to us with a smile.

Willow grins and I just nod as we walk out of the class waiting for Xander, I stretched my back and cried with relief when it cracked just right. Buffy looked at me weirdly "You ok you've been weird since you came back from patrol last night?" she said looking down at her back before her head sprung back up looking worried.

"Did you get hurt?" she asked worriedly, I just shook my head "No it was a normal slay I think I just landed wrong maybe I need some more training and stretching with Giles".

Amy exits the classroom and passes us with a big smile on her face and heads into the lounge "I just hate to think of you solo on Valentine's Day" Willow mutters as she turns to Buffy back on the subject of Valentine's Day.

The three of them us slowly begin to walk down the hall. Xander reaches us and follows us as he watches Amy go off in the other direction "I'll be fine. Mom, Nikki and I are gonna have a pig-out and vid fest, It's a time-honored tradition among the loveless".

I smile at my sister knowing she was covering up her hurt "Did you guys see that?" Xander asks as he points at Amy "See what?" Buffy replies "In class. I think Amy just worked some magic on Ms. Beakman" Xander whispers "You mean like witchcraft?" I ask in shock but also interest.

"You know, her mom's a witch" Willow tells me as I look at her in surprise "She is?" they all nod at me as Buffy frowns "And an amateur psycho. Amy's the last person that should be messing with that stuff".

"Maybe I should go talk to her" Xander offers but he has weird look in his eyes "Buffy, Nikki" we all look to see Giles waving to us "Girls... Might I have a word?" Giles asks looking at Buffy and me.

I smirked at him "Have a sentence, even" Giles laughs getting my joke "Oh. Good. Well, uh..." Giles begins but drifts off when he looks over to see Jenny.

She steps into the hall and stops, She and Giles exchange looks with each other, Jenny smiles thinly at Giles "Rupert" Giles nods and looks down "Ms. Calendar".

Jenny glances down briefly and back up, then steps toward Giles "I'm glad we ran into each other, actually. I was hoping that we could, uh... Do you have a minute?" she asks tentatively.

"Um... actually, not, not just now. Um, I, uh, have a matter to discuss with, with Buffy and Nikki" he says motioning to the two of us "Right. Let's go." Buffy says in the middle of the awkward silence.

Following Giles I turned back to see Jenny drop her arms in despair, with a sigh I shook my head and continued to follow Giles to the library for our 'important talk'.

Sitting in one of the chairs I watch as Giles walks slowly with his hands in his pockets "Are you okay?" Buffy asks as we both look at our Watcher sadly "Me? I-I-I'll be fine" he scratches his nose, then pockets his hand again.

"Um, I was more concerned about you, actually. Uh, since Angel, um... uh... turned..." he sits on the table and folds his hands "I've, um, been reading up on, on his earlier activities. Y'know, uh, feeding patterns a-and the like" he rambles with a stutter.

"And?" Buffy asks shaking her head as we were oblivious to where Giles was going with this "Around Valentine's Day, he, he, he's rather prone to, uh... well, um, brutal displays of, uh... He would think of it as affection, I suppose" Giles says and I physically hear Buffy gulp.

"Like what?" Buffy questions "No, no, uh, no need to go into details" he tells us as he gets up and steps back "That bad?" Buffy whispers and I feel the pain in her heart.

Giles turns to face us "Suffice it to say I, I think it would be best if you stayed off the streets for a few nights. I-I-I'll, um..." Giles says as he sits across from us "I'll patrol with Nikki and keep an eye on things better safe than sorry".

I watch as Buffy stares off into space "It's a little late for both" She whimpers and I instantly envelop her in my arms as I feel her tears hit my skin making me internally growl at the broody vampire.

* * *

 

Spike and Drusilla sit in their warehouse as Drusilla opens a jewelry case, and inside is a gold necklace with rubies set into an integrated pendant "Fancy it, pet?" Spike asks Drusilla from his wheelchair.

"Ahhh. It's beautiful. Mm." Drusilla says as she holds onto the necklace making Spike grin "Nothing but the best for my girl..." Angelus walks up to the table and sets down a human heart, fresh and bloody he smiles over at Spike, then down at Drusilla "Happy Valentine's Day, Dru".

"Oh..." Drusilla gasps as she holds her hands over it "Angel!" she cries happily as Angelus raises his eyebrows at Spike "It's still warm" she smiles with glee as Spike closes his eyes and lets out a deep breath.

"I knew you'd like it. I found it in a quaint little shopgirl" Angelus purrs before he sees the necklace and picks it up holding it out to have a look at it "Cute" he mutters sardonically before he reaches around Drusilla's neck with it "Here".

Drusilla pulls her hair back and away so he can close the clasp behind her neck Spike wheels toward them, upset with Angelus' forwardness "I'll get it" Angelus looks up at Spike "Done. I know Dru gives you pity access, but you have to admit it's so much easier when I do things for her"

Angelus grins as Spike controls his anger "You would do well to worry less about Dru" he says and Angelus rolls his eyes "and more about that Slayer you've been tramping around with"

Angelus paces behind the table "Dear Buffy. I'm still trying to decide the best way to send my regards" he says playfully as he sits on the table "Why don't you rip her lungs out? It might make an impression" Spike growls as he looks over at Angelus.

"Lacks... poetry" Angelus says darkly to Spike "It doesn't have to" Spike retorts as he inhales and thinks "What rhymes with lungs?" he asks getting a flash of his former life when Drusilla walks over to him.

"Don't worry, Spike, Angel always knows... what speaks to a girl's heart".

* * *

 

I smile as I lean into my mom and Buffy leans into me as we're all lounging back on the couch watching some sappy love film, we hear a knock at the door and look over in that direction.

Buffy looks back at us, exhales and hands me the popcorn "Here" I grin as Buffy gets up "You're the best" Mom and I starts to munch on it when I hear a knock on the back door we both look at each other and get up to investigate as Buffy answers the front door.

I step in front of my mom and rip open the back door but there's no one there I look down and spot a long black box with a black bow, looking around I pick up the box and walk back towards the living room when Buffy walks in and gasps seeing us "Buffy, it's us".

"Yeah. You just startled me a little" I eyed my sister knowing she was taking Giles' words seriously "We was just checking the back door" I tell her and show her the box left outside "I think it's for you"

Buffy looks up at us and raises her eyebrows for an instant before lifting the lid off the box, we all look down to see a dozen red roses along with a card bearing a single word: Soon.

Mom looks up at Buffy with a little smile, but it fades when she sees how Buffy is just staring down at the card without saying a word or reacting in any way "Buffy.." I start but she just takes the box and runs upstairs. I just look at my mom with a wry smile "teenagers".

* * *

 

The next morning Buffy woke me up and threw some clothes as me before running back out of the room to get ready for school "I'm guessing this means hurry up we need Giles" I call to her picking up the jeans she threw at me "these aren't even my clothes!".

Getting dressed we ran downstairs and pass mom who looked at us weirdly "Go school" I mutter lifting up my fist as Buffy grabs my arm and all but drags me to school with her.

Marching down the halls I smile seeing Xander but my smile drops when he looks all mopey "Ooo, Buffy, Nikki my buds" Xander says as he catches out arms "you will not believe..."

Buffy looks at Xander "Can't talk right now. Angel" She tells him when she stops "Do you need help?" Xander asks but Buffy shakes her head and pulls me again "It's alright".

Reaching the library I pull my arm away from her "Stop manhandling me woman" I tell her pulling my sleeve back to normal and walking through the library doors "Hey G" I say nodded to Giles whilst sitting down at the table.

Giles is at the table studying a book and looks up as Buffy slaps the card that came with the roses into the book in front of him"'Soon' what, Giles? You never held out on me until the big, bad thing in the dark became my ex-honey" Buffy demands as Giles continues to look at the card "Where did this come from?".

"He said it with flowers. Look, this isn't the time to start becoming Mr. Protective Guy. I can't just hang around, and I can't prepare when I don't know what's coming" Buffy says crossing her arms.

Giles sits up in his chair "N-no, of-of course, you're right" he gestures to another chair "Uh, s-s-sit, sit down" he says as he stands up and walks into his office before bringing out some books and sets them in front of us.

"Here's one Here. Um, 'Valentine's Day.' Yes, uh... 'Angel nails a puppy to the..." Giles starts but Buffy interrupts him "Skip it" she tells him seriously "Uh, but it..." Giles says as he looks at Buffy confused.

"I don't wanna know. I don't have a puppy. Skip it" She repeats and Giles closes the book "Right you are. I'll get another batch" Buffy sighs and gets up to help Giles in his office.

I smile widely when Xander walks in and up to the table "I have a plan we use me as bait" he tells me making my eye widen in shock "You mean make Angel come after you?".

Xander shakes his head making his soft dark hair bounce "No, I mean chop me into little pieces and stick me on hooks for fish to nibble at 'cause it would be more fun than my life".

I grimace and get up from my chair "Yeah. I heard about you and Cordy" I say as I move in front of him and lean against the table "That's her loss" I say softly as I look down.

Xander chuckles "Yeah. Not really the popular theory" I look back up at him and into his eyes "You know what I'd like? Why don't you and I do something together tonight? Just the two of us" I say with a flirtatious smirk as Xander looks at me in shock.

"Really?" he asks as I run my hand over his arms wanting nothing more than to have it around my waist "Yeah. We can comfort each other". I tell him with a small wink "Well, would lap dancing enter into that scenario at all? 'Cause I find that very comforting" Xander says with a flirty grin.

I stand up, stares into his beautiful eyes and take a step closer to him "Play your cards right..." I whisper as my face gets closer to his but he stops me "Okay, uh... You do know that I'm Xander, right?".

I look down before looking a back up at Xander's handsome face "I don't know, I just... heard that you and Cordy broke up, and I guess I was just surprised how glad I was".

I start to play with his shirt and leaning into him "It's funny how you can see someone every day but not really see them. You know?" I say and look up to see him smile and laugh nervously.

"Yeah, it's funny. And it's just gettin' funnier" he laughs as I put my finger to his lips to quiet him and slowly lean toward him for a kiss, behind us Amy walks into the library "Xander, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asks looking at the two of us.

I pull back slightly as Xander looks at Amy, back at me, then at Amy again "Yeah, okay" he says with a sigh before walking out the door with Amy, I sit back down and watch as Amy talks to Xander.

I put my finger between my lips and smile seductively when Xander looks my way again looking flustered, looking down at my clothes I smoothed them out before looking back up only to see Xander was gone.

* * *

 

Xander looks behind him as he runs from his home leaving a very upset Willow behind and in one of his shirts a mental image that will stay with him for the rest of his life.

Xander looks around paranoid as he walks back to school hoping Giles could help him "Stupid" he mutters to himself not only for casting the spell but stupid to think someone like Nikki would be flirting with him.

Neither Nikki nor Buffy were ever going to be his it was something that he had known for a while but when Nikki started to flirt with him in the library he thought maybe it could have been real until Amy turned up.

Walking into school Xander began to walk down the halls girls all around start to gather and follow him, Several girls cross in front of him and check him out. Xander looks around in disbelief as more girls stare at him walking by, and he gets looks and shakes of heads from the guys.

A group of four girls starts to tail him down the hall Xander gets worried and starts to run down the halls until he makes it back to the library where he closes the door behind him and checks to see if any of the girls are following him in.

Satisfied he has no stalkers, he heads into the library to find Giles who is coming down the stairs "Xander. What is it?" Giles asks "It, it's me... throwing myself at your mercy" Xander says desperately "What? Why?" Giles questions as he takes off.

"I made a mess, Giles. See, I found out that Amy's into witchcraft, and I was hurt, I guess, so I... made her put the love whammy on Cordy, but it backfired, and now every woman in Sunnydale wants to make me her cuddle monkey, which may sound swell on paper, but..." Jenny comes into the library behind them and strides up to Giles.

"Rupert, we need to talk. Hey, Xander. Nice shirt" Jenny says as she rubs his shirt "Look, Rupert, I know that you're angry at me, and I don't blame you, but I am not just gonna go away" Jenny tells Giles as she keeps rubbing Xander's arm "I mean, I care far too much about you to..." Jenny stops and looks at Xander's arm "Have you been working out?"

Xander gives Giles a 'see what I mean?' look and Giles grabs Jenny by the arms and pulls her away and behind him, Jenny just stares at Xander with a look of desire in her eyes.

"I cannot believe that you are fool enough to do something like this!" Giles shouts at Xander who shakes his head "Oh, no, I'm twice the fool it takes to do something like this".

"Has, uh... Has Amy tried to reverse the spell?" Giles asks Xander as he keeps Jenny by his side "I get around Amy and all she wants to do is talk honeymoon plans" Xander says running a hand through his hair.

Jenny steps toward Xander "Rupert, maybe I need to talk to Xander alone" Giles pushes her back and looks at Xander "Do you have any idea how serious this is? people under a-a love spell, Xander, are-are deadly. They lose all capacity for reason and if what you say is true and the entire female population is affected, I... Don't leave the library. I'll find Amy and see if we can put a stop to this thing".

Giles starts to leave the library and Jenny rubs her fingers together grinning when Giles walks back up to them, takes Jenny by the hand and pulls her out of the library behind him. Jenny moans and reaches her arm out to Xander as Giles drags her off "No!"

Xander realizes he's finally alone without any girls around, and quickly moves to push the mobile card catalog in front of the doors in an attempt to keep it that way, as he heads back toward the table Buffy pulls the door out and open and steps in wearing only a short black raincoat that reaches barely down to mid-thigh and black high heels.

When Xander hears the door swing shut and smack the card catalog behind him he spins around and stares at Buffy in shock, he is standing there with one hand on the catalog and the other propped up on top of the theft detector and smiles at him as she raises her right ankle and rubs it against her left calf.

"Alone at last" She purrs as Xander stares open-mouthed "Buff, give me a heart attack!" Buffy start a sexy walk toward him "Oh I'm gonna give you more than that" she says as she grabs her raincoat belt to untie it.

Xander backs away "Buff, for the love of God, don't open that raincoat" Buffy smiles seductively "Come on! It's a party! Aren't you gonna open your present?" she purrs.

Xander keeps backing toward the stairs nervously "It's not that I don't want to. Sometimes the remote impossible possibility that you might like me was all that sustained me but not now" he tells her before he trips and falls backward onto the stairs.

"Not like this. This isn't real to you and not real to Nikki either please" Xander begs as Buffy steps up and puts her leg over him "You're only here because of a spell" Xander says getting a confused stare from her "I mean, if I thought you had one clue what it would mean to me but you don't. So I can't".

Buffy starts to get upset "So you're saying this is all a game?" Xander's eyes widen seeing Buffy getting angry "A game? I... No!" Buffy stands tall over Xander "You make me feel this way, and then you reject me? What am I, a toy?".

"Buffy, please calm down" Xander begs "I'll calm down when you explain yourself!" Buffy shouts as she looks down at him "Get away from him" Buffy turns to see Amy "He's mine" Amy glares at Buffy.

"Oh, I don't think so" Buffy looks back at him "Xander, tell her" Xander looks between the two girls not knowing what to do "What? I, uh..." Amy smirks at Buffy "He doesn't have to say"

Buffy looks back at Amy "I know what his heart wants" Amy says with a smirk still on face "Funny, I know what your face wants" Buffy swings and punches Amy in the face who falls to the floor.

Buffy turns to confront Xander "What is this, you're two-timing me?" Xander doesn't know what to say as Amy gets up her nose is bloody and her eyes have become pitch-black.

"Goddess Hecate, work thy will" The spell's energy swirls around her "Before thee let the unclean thing crawl!" She thrusts her arms out at Buffy, the spell leaps from her hands and envelops Buffy.

"Buffy! Oh, my God!" Xander mutters as he stares at the black raincoat laying on the floor, Giles comes back into the library with Jenny "What, what just happened?" he asks looking at Amy and Xander.

Xander indicates the raincoat "Buffy" Jenny smiles broadly when she sees Xander and tries to go to him, but Giles holds her back "Where is she?" They both look down at the raincoat when Buffy who has been turned into a rat comes crawling out.

"Oh, my God!" Giles shouts as the Buffy rat runs off "Why is she here?" Amy demands as she gestures at Jenny "Can you focus for a minute? You just turned Buffy into a rat" Xander shouts.

Giles follows the rat with his gaze "Buffy can take care of herself. Why don't we go someplace private?" Amy says as she grabs Xander's arm "Can you... I'm not going anywhere until you change her back" Xander tells Amy as Jenny steps over to them "You heard him. So why don't you undo your little magic trick and get lost?".

Amy crosses her arms and looks at Jenny "Who made you Queen of the World? Well, you're old enough to be" Jenny steps closer to Xander "Well, what can I say?" she grabs Xander by the shirt "I guess Xander's just too much man for the pimple squad".

Amy waves her hands before her and begins to cast another spell. her eyes turn pitch-black "Goddess Hecate, to you I pray, with this..." Xander puts his hand over Amy's mouth "Would you quit with the Hecate?!".

"You two, sit" Giles says sternly as Amy goes to the table "And be quiet" Jenny soon joins her "We have to catch the Buffy rat" Giles says as he takes off his coat, Xander spots Buffy "Ooo, there!" Buffy squeezes behind a bookcase as he rushes to try to catch her.

Xander peeks around the other end of the bookcase to wait for Buffy to come out "Good Buffy. Just..."He sees someone come up next to him and looks up to see Oz standing over him, and the next thing he knows Oz has punched him in the face.

He stumbles backward into the shelves Giles is startled and looks up as well, Oz shakes out his hand as Buffy makes her escape from behind the bookcase and goes out of the library doors into the hall.

"That kinda hurt" Oz says as Xander rubbed his cheek "Kinda?! What was that for?" he shouted at Oz "I was on the phone all night, listening to Willow cry about you. Now, I don't know exactly what happened, but I was left with a very strong urge to... hit you".

Oz offers his hand to help Xander up and he takes it "I didn't touch her. I swear." Giles looks over to Xander upset "Xander! where's Buffy?" as he starts looking again, Xander looks at Oz "Amy turned her into a rat" Oz looks around calmly "Oh".

Giles and Xander get on their knees and look around while making squeaking noises, Oz crouches down to look as well "I don't see her. If anything happens to her, I'll..." Giles starts as he looks at Xander in disgust "Oh, just go home. Lock yourself away. You're only going to cause more problems here. Now, Amy, Jenny and I will, uh... try and break the spell. Oz, if, if you could aid us in, in finding, um... Buffy?".

Oz nods quickly "Sure. Absolutely" Xander starts to say something, but Giles cuts him off "Just go. Get out of my sight" Xander stares at Giles for a moment with his mouth agape, but then goes with his head hung low.

He walks out of the library with a heavy sigh when he hears Cordelia cry out and looks down the hall toward her voice "What are you doing?! You guys are crazy!" Xander sees a group of girls apparently involved in a catfight.

"You thought you could do better, is that it?" Harmony asks looking down at Cordy "No, I..." Cordelia says holding her arms up in defense "We'll knock that snotty attitude right out of you!" one of the cordette's shout.

Xander sees that it's Cordelia they're attacking and runs toward them, when they see him coming several of them break off and come at him, screaming and shouting pushing through them he picks up Cordelia from the floor and he runs from the hall as they all chase after him.

Running outside Xander gasps for breath "I think we..." he turns to see a crowd of girls waiting for them "lost 'em" Willow is at the front of the crowd holding a large fire ax.

"I should've known I'd find you with her" Willow growls out with tears in her eyes "Will... Come on, you don't wanna hurt me" Xander says trying to calm down his best friend "Oh, no? You don't know how hard this is for me. I love you so much! I'd rather see you dead than with that bitch".

She raises the ax and advances toward him the others start toward him as well, Harmony and her friends come running out of the hall now, too, and confront the crowd. The girls all scream and yell as they fight Harmony grabs Willow's ax and wrestles her for it.

"Get away from him! He's mine!" Harmony shouts at Willow as the two girls struggle, As the girls all fight Xander and Cordelia make their escape when the girls realize they've gone they start to give chase.

Xander and Cordelia come running down Buffy and Nikki's street and slow to a walk "Okay, now I really think we've lost them" Xander says as the two of them gasp for breath from the quick run.

"Damn it, Xander, what's going on? Who died and made you Elvis?" Cordelia asks sarcastically as Xander sees the Summer's house "Let's get inside. I'll explain later".

They run up to the door and Xander knocks fast and loud, looking back to see if the crowd of girls has found them yet "Come on!" Cordelia shouts frantically.

Joyce opens the door "Xander, Cordelia, what..." They push their way in past her "yeah, hi" Cordelia says as she slams the door shut behind her, Xander walks into the kitchen with Joyce and Cordelia close behind "What happened? Why are you all scratched up? Where's Buffy?" Joyce asks looking at Xander who looks at her nervous "She's, um... around".

Joyce gestures to a stool "Well, sit down and tell me about it" Xander sits on the stool and sighs in relief, Joyce motions to Cordelia "Why don't you run upstairs and grab some bandages out of the bathroom?".

Cordelia goes down the hall toward the stairs as Joyce looks at Xander again "Let me, uh, get you something to drink. You in the mood for cold or hot" Xander just shrugs "I, uh..." Joyce walks around behind him "I think it's..." she starts rubbing his shoulders in a seductive motion "more of a hot night, don't you?" Joyce says as she leans in and giggles.

* * *

 

Smiling at myself in the mirror I knew Xander would love what I was wearing, looking at a picture that I tore Buffy and Willow out "much better" I giggled and presses a kiss to it.

Suddenly I heard his voice rushing downstairs I saw Xander sitting with his head on the our kitchen counter with my mother rubbing his shoulders and kissing his neck.

"Hey! You may be my mother but I will break those spinster hands if you don't get off my man" I scream as they both look up at me in shock, Cordelia walks in next to me and saw my mom's hands on Xander.

"What are you doing? Make me yak!" Cordelia says sarcastically, Mom looks at Cordelia defensively "Cordelia, go back upstairs. This is between us" I look at my mom angrily "No way Xander is mine" I growl at her and Xander looks at the three of us.

"I think not," Cordelia says as she grabs the both of us and pushes us back toward the door and opens it "What are you doing? Hey! Get your hands off me!" Mom shouts as Cordelia shuts the door on us.

"And keep your mom-aged mitts off my boyfriend. Former!" Cordelia shouts at my mom whom I push out of the way, lifting my fist I break one of the kitchen door windowpanes "Oh, my God!" Cordelia screams as I reach in and feels around for the lock as mom leans over my shoulder "Xander, honey, let Joycie in. Hon, let Joycie in!".

Xander gets up, takes hold of Cordelia and leads her out of the kitchen at a run "Xander!" I scream as he and Cordelia run away from me. "Ohh I'll kill her" I growl kicking open the door.

Running upstairs I kick open Buffy's door just in time to see Angelus pull Xander out onto the roof "Xander!" Cordelia screams as I push her out of the way and look out of the window to see Xander in Angelus's grip.

"Hey, vamp brains get your hands off him!" I shout at him making him Angelus look down at me "Where's Buffy?!" he shouts holding Xander "Who cares!?" I shouted as Angelus throws him off of the roof to the lawn below.

He leaps down after him and stands over him, he grabs Xander and pulls him up "I wanted to do something special for Buffy, actually to Buffy, but this is so much better!"

"If it's any consolation, I feel very close to you right now" Angelus taunts Xander as I jump out of the window but before I could get to them a hand grabs Angelus by the shoulder, pulls him up and throws him aside into a tree.

He hits it hard and slides down to the ground "Don't fret, kitten. Mummy's here" I growl at the same time as Angelus "I don't know what you're up to, Dru, but it doesn't amuse!"

She growls at Angelus and he growls back "If you harm one hair on this boy's head..." Drusilla warns as she strokes Xander's head as Angelus looks shocked "You've gotta be kidding. Him?"

Drusilla turns to Angelus with a smirk "Just because I finally found a real man..." she says as she turns Xander to face her "Too bad bitch he's mine" I tell her picking up a stake.

Angelus grabs me a pulls me into his chest as he laughs at Drusilla "I guess I really did drive you crazy" Drusilla runs her fingers over Xander's lips "Your face is a poem. I can read it".

"Really? It doesn't say 'spare me' by any chance?" Xander asks as I struggle against Angelus' grasp as he leans his head down to me "Hmm what's all this about?" I just growled at him making him laugh.

"I'll rip you limb from limb" I called out as Drusilla leaned in closer to Xander "Shhh. How do you feel about eternal life?" Xander shakes his head obviously because he wanted me, he needs me I can feel it.

"couldn't just start with a coffee? A movie, maybe?" I squinted my eyes and both Angel and Drusilla flew backward, I ran and picked up Xander from the floor and pulled him towards me hugging him close.

I pulled away at the sound of the screams of the mob of women running at us, Willow leads them with her ax "There he is! Get them!" A girl in the mob screams, lifting up my hands I smirked as I began to send girls flying everywhere before I got tackled by Willow "He's mine! Get off!".

All the girls are screaming, Several of them including Harmony begin to paw at him, Willow gets off me and stands over him with her ax, Cordelia comes out of the house and rushes towards us.

Xander gets pinned down, and Willow raises her ax to strike "All you had to do was love me!" She cries loudly "No!" Cordelia calls as she grabs the ax and shoves Willow over and onto the ground, then tries to free Xander.

"He's mine!" I cried punching Harmony who pushed me to get closer to Xander "Get out of the way! Move it! Get off him!" Cordelia shouts as she pushes the one that has him pinned down off of him, grabs his hand and pulls him up and runs back into the house.

Watching as Cordelia slams the door I growl feeling the anger coursing through my veins if I can't have him, no one can "Back off!" I screamed making every girl, window and object in a meters radius of me fly back or smash.

I began to breathe heavily as Angelus gets up and looks at me with new eyes "Powerful little thing aren't you" he murmurs as the girls began to run into my house.

Angelus looks past me with a smirk I turn to see Drusilla tries to follow the girls inside but an unseen force prevents from entering the house "Ahh! Sorry, Dru. I guess you're not invited" Angelus taunted.

I smirk and walk through the threshold of my house "Aww to bad" I taunt with a small laugh "invite me in" she growls hitting the door frame "Bite me vamp breath" I growl at her before running off to find Xander.

Seeing all the girls at the door of the basement I pushed passed them and took a knife off one girl and slam it into the door making a hole "Here's Nikki" I taunt kicking open the door.

I duck under the boards nailed across the door frame and start down the stairs, a crowd of girls follow me as Cordelia and Xander retreat into the corner we all charge them, screaming and shouting.

"Nikki please!" Cordelia screamed as I grab her and pull her up and away from Xander before dropping her roughly and looking around confused "What's going on?" I ask them as I look to see a bunch of girls in my basement.

"What are they doing here?" I ask as Xander and Cordelia who are sat with their arms around each other tightly "What's your deal?" I ask raising an eyebrow.

* * *

 

The next day at school Xander, Buffy and I walk toward the library together "Scavenger hunt?" Buffy says with a small smile on her face "Your mom seemed to buy it" Xander looks around with a sigh "Well, I'm back to being incredibly unpopular".

I smiled at him "It's better than everyone trying to ax-murder you, right?" Xander nods a little "Mostly, but, uh... Willow won't even talk to me" Xander told us with a sad look "Any particular reason she should?" Buffy tells him and he nods knowingly then looks back at us seriously "How much groveling are we talking here?".

Buffy smirks "Oh, a month, at least" I stopped and looked at Xander "Xander, come on, I mean... this is worse for her than anyone. She loved you before you invoked the great Roofie spirit. The rest of us..." I trail off as Xander looks guilty.

"You remember, huh?" I nodded along with my sister "I remember flirting with you, going home and 'dressing for you' and then fighting over you with Drusilla" I tell him with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah. I remember coming on to you, I remember begging you to undress me... And then a sudden need for cheese. I also remember that you didn't" Buffy says as she looks at Xander gratefully.

"Need cheese?" Xander asks looking confused "Undress me. It meant a lot to me what you said" Buffy said making Xander blush "C'mon, Buffy, I couldn't take advantage of you like that. Okay, for a minute, it was touch and go there...".

I smiled as Xander rubbed the back of his neck "You came through. There might just be hope for you yet" I tell him as he looks at me sheepishly "Well, tell that to Cordelia" he says looking between Buffy and I.

Buffy snorted and patted him on the arm "You're on your own there" I laughed and waved Xander goodbye as Buffy and I walked away "He did good" Buffy mused as we linked arms, I turned to my sister with a smirk "So Buff we have a free period, wanna play hide and squeak?".


	36. Passion

**Word count: 7170**

**Warnings: Implied character death.**

* * *

 

Angelus walked back into the warehouse with a smirk as Drusilla drops to the floor dramatically "What's happened?" Spike asks as he wheels himself over to the upset female vampire "Witchcraft" Drusilla hissed as she lay back on the floor.

"Okay pet you just make yourself comfortable" Spike told Dru who waved him off mumbling to herself as the two male vampire leave her to her crazed rambling "Everyone fell in love with the boy the Slayers hang around with" Angelus tells Spike offhandedly before looking over her shoulder "poor Dru didn't stand a chance" He laughed with a grin before remembering the younger Blonde Slayer.

"So what's the deal with the Slayer" Angelus asks as he hops up on a wooden box looking down at Spike "Please tell me you took the chance and killed her?" Spike questioned out loud as Angelus chuckles "wrong Slayer".

Spike raises a blond eyebrow "Oh little Birdie, how did she fair with the love spell" Angelus looked at Spike suspiciously before grinning "she is definitely something to watch out for" Angelus grinned remembering the kisses he's forced upon his ex-lover's sister.

Spike eyed Angelus carefully he'd already told his sire what his plan with the Slayer was "What are you up to?" Angelus jumped down from his spot and crouched by Spike's side "Well I've been thinking about what you said and I'm doing it".

Spikes eyes shot open wider "Hey! That was my plan, get your own" he growled at the older vampire "Well 'Spikey' you're not going to be doing anything soon" Angelus taunted kicking the wheel of Spike's wheelchair "Plus you know I always get what I want and what I want is her".

* * *

 

Waving goodbye to Xander and Willow, Buffy and I walked into our house where mom was sat watching TV waiting for us to get home "Hi girls have a nice time?" mom asked as we stopped in the hall.

Buffy and I nodded happily "It was nice" Buffy said with a smile as we turned to walk upstairs "Goodnight" We called back in unison as we reached our own bedrooms "Love you" Buffy called as she walked into her room "Always" I replied as I closed the door behind me.

Changing into a tank top and pajama bottoms I brushed my hair and turned to switch off the light when my head started tingle looking out of my window I opened the blinds a little but nothing was there.

Getting into bed I tried to ignore the weird feeling pushing the covers off of me I walked over to Buffy's room and opened the door to see her getting into bed "Everything ok in here?" I ask as she gave me a weird look but nodding.

"You ok?" she asked sitting on her bed "Yeah I just had a weird feeling," I told her and gasped seeing her look towards her window "You felt it too?" Buffy nodded as I took a look out of her window but still nothing.

"It's nothing Nikki, you wanna sleep in here?" Buffy asked concerned "No I'm good just shout if you need help or whatever" I muttered as I walked back into my bedroom with a sigh something's not right...

* * *

 

Groaning I rolled over and sighed happily at a good night sleep before frowning when I could feel something wet next to me, blindly grabbing whatever it was I cringed at how wet and gross it felt.

Opening my eyes I looked at the item in my hand in horror before screaming loudly "Buffy!" suddenly my sister burst through the door still in her pajamas stake in hand gasping at the item I held in my hand.

Dropping it I jump out of my bed and stood with my sister as we both stared at the cold unbeating heart that had been lovingly left in my bed for me "Angel" Buffy growled as she pulled me into her room and sat me on her bed.

"What? You think this was Angel?" I asked as Buffy began to pull clothes out of her wardrobe as I wrapped my arms around myself, Buffy turned to me and her expression softened "We need to go see Giles, go get some clothes and wash I'll get rid of that...".

I nodded as Buffy walked out of her room and into mine with anger written all over her face, pulling some clothes out of her wardrobe I turned and saw a piece of paper left on her bed I frowned when I saw a hand-drawn picture of Buffy sleeping.

Walking into the library with Buffy I crossed my arms still feeling angry and lost at the fact that Angel had gotten into our house and had stayed there for so long "He was in our house" Buffy muttered as we passed Giles who's behind the counter checking in various books "Who?" he asked not really looking at us.

"Angel. He was in my room last night and Buffy's" I say as I practically threw my bag on the floor by the table as Giles comes out from behind the counter and follows us over to the table where Xander and Cordelia stood.

"Are you sure?" Giles asked looking at us concerned "Positive. When I woke up, I found a picture he'd left me on my pillow and that's not the worst" Buffy whispered as she trailed off and they all looked at me.

I clenched my jaw and looked back at them"He left me a dead heart on my bed" I muttered as they all looked at me shocked except Cordelia who grimaced "A visit from the pointed-tooth fairy" Xander says after we all went silent "Wait, I thought vampires couldn't come in unless you invited them in" Cordelia asked us in surprise.

"Yes, but, uh, once you've invited them in, thereafter they're, they're always welcome" Giles explains "Y'know, I think there may be a valuable lesson for you gals here about inviting strange men into your bedrooms" I just glared at Xander.

"Oh, God! I invited him in my car once. That means he can come into my car whenever he wants" Cordelia shouts in terror "Yep, you're doomed to havin' to give him and his vamp pals a lift whenever they feel like it. And those guys never chip in for gas" Xander told her sarcastically

"Giles, there has to be some sort of spell to reverse the invitation, right? Like a barrier, a no shoes, no pulse, no service kind of thing?" Buffy asks Giles desperately as she rubs me on the shoulder comfortingly.

"Yeah, that works for a car, too?" Cordelia jumps in but gets ignored "Yes, well, I-I-I could check on my..." Giles begins but gets interrupted by Xander who hops up from his chair "Hello!"

We all look behind them and see Jonathon and a girl come into the library "Excuse me, but have you ever heard of knocking?" Xander says defensively as we all give him a weird look.

Jonathon gestures to the library "We're supposed to get some books. On Stalin" he explains but Xander just points at Jonathon "Does this look like a Barnes & Noble?" Giles sighs and looks at Xander "This is a school library, Xander."

Xander looks at us "Since when?" Giles turns back to Jonathon "Uh, y-yes, yes, uh, third row. Historical biographies" Jonathon nods and walks past us warily "Thanks". We all look at each other awkwardly.

Xander points out of the library I nod and pick up my things, Giles looks at us confused but follows "What..." he starts but Buffy and I give him a look "Oh!" he realizes.

"So Angel has decided to step up his harassment of you?" Giles asks Buffy as we walk through the school " By sneaking in their rooms and leaving stuff at night? Why doesn't he just slit her throat or strangle her while she's sleeping or cut her heart out?".

We all look at Cordelia shocked "What? I'm trying to help" I just shake my head as we walk along the colonnade "Uh, uh, look, it's-it's classic battle strategy to throw one's opponent off his game. He-he-he's just trying to provoke you. Uh, to taunt you, to, to goad you into, uh, some mishap of some sort" Giles says with a stutter as he looks at Buffy.

Xander looks back at Giles "The nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah approach to battle?" he asks in a sing-song voice "Yes, Xander, once more you've managed to boil a complex thought down to its simplest possible form" Giles mutters.

I stop and turned to look at them "But why leave me something, he after Buffy isn't he?" Buffy stopped too and looked at me guiltily "Angel once told me that when he was obsessed with Drusilla, the first thing h-he did was to kill her family".

I felt my face drop as I looked at Buffy "Great I'm going to die because you couldn't keep it in your pants" I say looking at her before frowning "oh god, Mom".

Buffy looked at me and nods sadly " I know. I'm gonna have to tell her something" she sits on a wall and looks at Giles "The truth?" Giles approaches us, waving his finger "No. You-you-you-you can't do that".

"Yeah. The more people who know the secret, the more it cheapens it for the rest of us" Xander jokes "But I've gotta tell her something. I've gotta do something. Giles, Angel has an all-access pass to my house, and I'm not always there when my mother is. We can't protect her" Buffy says as she looks over to me.

Giles looks at us flustered "I told you I will find a-a spell" he says with a stutter and I suck on my teeth in annoyance "What about until you find a spell?".

"Until then, you and your mother are welcome to ride around with me in my car" We all look at Cordelia and roll our eyes "Girls, I-I understand your concern, but it's imperative that you keep a level head through all this" Giles pleads.

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have Angel lurking in your bedroom at night" Buffy says to Giles upset as her eyes flicker to mine for a second "Girls I know how hard this is for you" Giles says before he sees the looks Buffy and I are giving him.

"All right, I don't. But as the Slayer, you don't have the luxury of being a slave to your, your passions. You mustn't let Angel get to you. No matter how provocative his behavior may become" he finishes giving us a knowing look.

I give a sharp breath and look at Giles "So what you're basically saying is, 'just ignore him, and maybe he'll go away'?" I say with a small whisper as Giles looks at me softly "Yes. Precisely".

"Hey, how come Nikki doesn't get a snotty 'once again you boil it down to the simplest form' thing?" Giles and I both look over at him as he looks me up and down "Watcher's pet".

* * *

 

Sitting at the dining table I eyed both my mom and Buffy knowing the silence that was ensuing was an unusual one, mom caught my eye and I quickly looked back down to my plate as she looked at me suspiciously.

Looking up a little I saw her looking at Buffy as she picked at her food, mom put down her fork, folds her hands and leans forward on the table towards us and I knew we were about to have a deep conversation.

"Okay girls. What's wrong?" Mom asked aloud as Buffy and I looked at her before calling out in unison "nothing" Mom sighed and turned to me and I subtly shook my head.

Mom turned from me to Buffy obviously catching on that I had down nothing wrong "Come on. You can tell me anything" Buffy eyes me as mom continues "I've read all the parenting books. You cannot surprise me" I just nod at her.

Buffy puts down her fork "Do you remember that guy, Angel?" Mom looks at Buffy and nods "Angel, the, um... the college boy who was tutoring you in history?" I smirked a little at the backstory Buffy told mom about Angel.

"Right. Uh, he... I-I..." Buffy looks down and whispers "Oh, God. Um..." Kicking her under the table she jumps "We're sort of dating, were dating, um, going through a serious off-again phase right now".

Mom looked Buffy knowingly "Don't tell me. He's changed. He's not the same guy you fell for?" I snorted "you have no idea" Buffy glared at me before turning back to mom "A-anyway, um... since he changed, he's been kinda following me around. He's having trouble letting go".

Mom looked at Buffy and I concerned "Buffy, has he done anything..." Buffy jumped and shook her head "No! No, it's not like that. He's just been hanging around... a lot. Just sending me notes, that kind of thing. I just don't wanna see him right now. I mean, if he shows up, I'll talk to him. Just... don't invite him in".

Buffy gets up and leaves the dining room, sighing I shifted my food around with my fork until I realized my mom was smiling at me"What?" I asked with a mouth full of food.

Mom puts her hand on top of mine gently "I'm just shocked that it's not you in trouble I know your type" I just looked at her shocked as she took the plates out into the kitchen before shrugging my shoulders with a sigh "She's right".

Walking up to Buffy's room I saw her talking on the phone "Hold on Will, Nikki's here I'll put you on speaker" Buffy pushed the speaker button and put down the phone.

"Hey Willow" I call sitting down on the floor next to Buffy's bed "Hi Nikki, anyway Buffy I agree with Giles. You need to just try and not let him get to you. Angel's only doing this to try to get you to do something stupid. I swear men can be such jerks sometimes. Dead or alive".

I smirk and raised my fist making Buffy laugh "I just hope Giles can find a keep-out spell soon" Buffy said reminding me that Angelus could pop in any time he wanted to and do whatever he wanted.

"I know I'll sleep easier when I can... sleep easier" I muttered as a shiver went through me as I was reminded of my little gift he left me and felt a dash of guilt for the person who he took it from.

"I'm sure he will. He's like book-man. Until then, try and keep happy thoughts and..." Willow stops and goes quiet "And what?" Buffy calls out but it was still quiet "Willow?".

Getting worried I looked at Buffy who looked as scared as I felt "Willow?" I shouted as I picked up the phone and put it to my ear, suddenly I remembered that Willow had let Angel in her house when we had problems with Ford.

"Willow?" I tried again but my blood soon ran cold when I heard the sound of my bed friends scream, dropping the phone I raced out of the house and down the street just hoping that I would find Willow unharmed.

Barging through Willow's door I ran into her room to find her holding up a string with dead fish on them, looking over to fish tank I winced as I noticed all her fish were missing "Angel" I muttered tiredly as I pulled Willow into my arms as she sobbed.

After convincing her parents to let her stay at my house, Buffy, Willow and I sat on my bed after we hung up strings of garlic cloves all over the place, Willow had a stake in her hand that she's fidgeting with nervously while she looks around.

"Thanks for coming for me," Willow says as she smiles at me and put her head on my shoulder as I lay my head on top of hers "Thanks for having me over too. Especially on a school night and all".

"No problem. Hey, sorry about your fish" Buffy says with a frown looking past me to Willow who just shrugged "Oh, it's okay. We hadn't really had time to bond yet. Although for the first time I'm glad my parents didn't let me have a puppy".

I grimace remembering what Giles told Buffy and I about Angelus and puppies "It's so weird... Every time something like this happens, my first instinct is still to run to Angel. I can't believe it's the same person. He's completely different from the guy that I knew" Buffy whispers as she stares into space.

"Well, sort of, except..." Willow starts but trails off when she sees Buffy and I looking at her "Except what?" Buffy asks quietly "You're still the only thing he thinks about" Willow mutters as Buffy looks down at her hands sadly.

* * *

 

Walking to school my eyes were blinking slowly in tiredness I had stayed up to watch over the house, I yawned as Willow and Buffy chatted as we walked along the sidewalk and then up the steps school.

"Well, good morning, ladies and what did you three do last night?" Xander asks from behind us "We had kind of a 'pajama party sleepover with weapons' thing" Willow told him as we continued to walk.

"Oh. And I don't suppose either of you had the presence of mind to locate a camera to capture the moment" Xander questions lightheartedly "I have to go. I have a class to teach in about five minutes, and I have to arrive early to glare disapprovingly at the stragglers" Willow says as she turns away from us.

Willow stops when she sees Jenny arriving "Oh, darn. She's here. Five hours of lesson planning yesterday down the drain..." She mutters as she walks off, I nudge Buffy and nod to a sad looking Jenny "You know it's for the best" I tell her as she gives me a small pout.

"We'll see you in class" Buffy says as we walk up to Jenny "Hey" We mutter in unison as Jenny's eyes flicker between the two of us "Hi" she whispers, I look at Buffy with a sigh as she looks at Jenny for a moment then averts her eyes.

"Uh, is there something that... Did you two want something?" Jenny says almost stuttering as she looked at us "Look... I know you feel badly about what happened, and I just wanted to say..." Buffy starts and Jenny looks at her expectantly "Good. Keep it up".

I look at Buffy annoyed as Jenny looks unsurprising by her scathing comment "Don't worry, I will" She tells us before trying to move past but I run in front of her holding my hand in front of her.

"He misses you. He doesn't say anything, I mean, but I know he does" I blurt out as Buffy comes to stand by me with a sad look "I don't want him to be lonely. I don't want anyone to" She whispers looking down at the ground.

"Buffy, you know that if I have a chance to make this up..." Jenny begins but Buffy shakes her head and interrupts "We're... good here. Let's just leave it" Buffy grabs my arm and pulls me away I turn to see Jenny watching us go.

Walking into the lounge we spot Giles talking with some students "Could you, um, hang those up?" he asks the students before seeing Buffy and I "Buffy, Nikki. So, uh, so how was your night?" he asks looking at us both as Buffy smiles and replies "Good".

"Sleepless, but no human fatalities" Buffy and Giles look at me "please don't tell me you were awake the entire night" Buffy asks as they both look at me concerned "Okay I won't" Buffy looked ready to argue with me until Cordelia walks up to us.

"I-I found a ritual to revoke the invitation to vampires" Giles whispered as he leaned towards us "Oh, thank goodness. I actually had to talk my grandmother into switching cars with me last night" We all gave Cordelia a look before Giles carried on.

Um, the-the-the, uh, the ritual's fairly basic, actually. It's just the recitation of a few rhyming couplets, burning of, uh, moss herbs, sprinkling of holy water..." he says as we start to walk down the hall "All stuff I have in our house" Buffy says nodding at me.

* * *

 

Walking into Willow's house I lay on her bed as Cordelia walks in with a huff and Buffy gives Willow a wooden cross, my eyes start to blink slower as I listen to them talk.

_*I walked up to the school and I frowned hearing opera music somewhere, walking through the halls I looked around and jumped when I saw Angelus watching me with a smirk "'Formatia trans sicere educatorum.'" he says before walking off._

_Turning around I continued down the hall where the music began to play louder than before, getting to the computer room I frowned when I noticed the door was shut and the light was off but this is where the music was playing from._

_Opening the door I peeked in "Hello? Jenny? It's me" flicking on the light I gasped seeing Jenny laying on the table roses in hand with her eyes wide open. She was dead.*_

Gasping I sat up and look around as I saw I was still in Willow's room, Buffy and Willow looked at me in concern as Cordelia look at me like I was crazy "You okay?" Buffy asked me I opened my mouth before shutting it "I'm fine" It was just a dream.

I watched as Willow nailed a cross next to her French doors and pulls the curtain over to hide it at least this will keep Angelus out we had already done Cordelia's car.

"I'm gonna have a hard time explaining this to my dad" Willow says to us with a frown "You really think it'll bother him?" Buffy asks crossing her arms "Ira Rosenberg's only daughter nailing crucifixes to her bedroom wall? I have to go over to Xander's house just to watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' every year" Willow laughs as she puts the hammer down.

"I see your point" I mumble watching as Cordelia looks at Willow's aquarium "Although it is worthwhile to see him do the Snoopy Dance" Willow laughs as Cordelia huffs and looks at Willow "Willow, are you aware that there are no fish in your aquarium?".

Willow frowns and whines "You know, Cordelia, we've already done your car. Call it a night if you want" Buffy offers "Right. Thanks. And you know I'd do the same for you if you had a social life" Cordelia says as she picks up her coat.

"Oh. This must be for you" Cordelia says as she hands the envelope to Willow who gives us a worried glance and opens it "It's for you" Willow says when she sees what's in it she hands it to Buffy.

Buffy looks at me whilst she unfolds the paper and gasps before turning it to me where I see a pencil sketch of our mother sleeping "Mom..." before I knew it I was again running down the street hoping another loved one of mine was alive.

Pushing open the door I saw all the lights were off just as Buffy ran in behind me "Mom!" we both screamed as we looked for her, I ran upstairs with Buffy following as we both thought the worst.

"Nikki! Buffy" Willow calls as she ran after us, looking over the redhead I frowned "What?" Willow was breathing heavily obviously from trying to keep up with Buffy and I "Her car isn't here".

I grabbed Buffy's arm as she raced past me trying to get to mom's room "Buff she's still at the gallery" I muttered running a hand through my hair "Willow said her car wasn't there".

Buffy sighed and nodded her head "Well let's get this spell done before she comes back" I nodded and handed Buffy the cross to nail to the wall as she and Willow walk off muttering the spell.

Walking into my room I peeked through the window to see Mom's car pulling up on the driveway "Buffy! Mom's home" I called as I walked into her room where Buffy had finished nailing up the cross.

Willow opened her book and starting the spell "Just leave us alone" I hear mom shout Buffy, Willow and I walk downstairs to see Angelus tries to follow mom into the house, but comes up against an invisible barrier.

Angelus looks up to see us and smirks until he sees Willow muttering the spell "Hicce verbis consensus rescissus est". Buffy walks over to the door and looks at Angelus who is staring at us furiously "Sorry, Angel. Changed the locks" she tells him as she slams the door in his face.

Buffy turns to us with a sigh and leans against the door as we hear a vampire growl then silence "He's really pissed" I say with a grimace "I hate to think what his next move is" I tell them and they both pause and nod knowing whatever it is it'll be bad.

Mom walked in and looked at us angrily "Girls I think we need to have a talk" Mom then turned to Willow with a smile "You can wait here Willow sweetheart" before she walked off upstairs "Now girls!" she shouted over her shoulder.

Buffy and I walked up the stairs slowly not wanting the verbal discipline I turned to her "You make someone crazy and I'm about to be shouted at" Buffy rolls her eyes and pushed past me with a sigh.

* * *

 

Jenny's sat in her classroom as she sits at her desk working on the translation program. She takes a sip of coffee from her mug and sets it back down as she types a few keystrokes, then stares at the screen.

"Hello," Giles says as he appears and stands in the doorway, Jenny is startled and looks at him. Quickly she types a few keystrokes the screen changes and she turns back to him "Oh! Hi".

Giles steps into the room "You're working late" He says as he gives her a nervous smile "Special project" Jenny tells him as he gives a nod and looks down "Oh" Jenny smiles as she sees his nervous stance.

"I spoke to Nikki today and... Buffy" Jenny starts as she hopes this will get them somewhere even if it's just talking again "Oh! Yes?" Giles asks as he sits on her desk.

" Mm. Nikki said you missed me" Jenny said with a flirty smile as she plays with a pencil "Well, uh, she's... a meddlesome girl" Giles says with a stutter but still held a soft smile for the young Slayer.

Jenny looks at him "Rupert... Okay, I don't wanna say anything if I'm wrong, but I may have some news. Now, I need to finish up here. Could I see you later?" Giles looks at Jenny shocked but happy.

"Y-yes, yes. You could stop by my house" Giles tells her with a smile "Okay" Jenny agrees with a smile and nod, Giles continues to smile as he gets up "Good" he smiles wider then leaves.

Jenny turns her attention back to her computer as she works tirelessly on the translation for the curse to get Angel's soul back. She taps a few keys, then looks up at the screen. A percent complete window appears over the Rumanian text, and the bar zips across it.

Jenny looks up at the clock in her classroom it had been an hour since Giles had left "Come on, come on..." The bar disappears, and a translation scrolls up next to the original text.

"That's it!" Jenny exhales and smiles "It's gonna work!" she cheers as she saves the result "This... will work". She pops out an unlabeled yellow floppy disk and sets it aside by some books near the edge of her desk as a hard copy has started to print out.

She wheels her chair over to the printer and looks it over as she looks up and sees Angelus sitting in a desk at the back of the class, She gasps and jumps out of her seat.

"Angel..."

* * *

 

I groan as I look at mom who has been pacing for about 10 minutes now since she ordered us upstairs, Buffy and I are sat on her bed waiting for her to talk or explode whichever comes first.

"Was he the first? No, wait. I don't wanna know...I don't think I want to" Mom shouts as she starts to pace again "Yeah. He was the first. I mean, the only" Buffy says as Mom stops "He's older than you" she mutters putting a hand on her head.

"I know" Buffy mutters knowingly "Too old, Buffy. And he's obviously not very stable. I really wish... I just thought you would show more judgment" Mom tells Buffy looking disappointed.

"He wasn't like this before" Buffy mumbles as Mom sits down opposite us on Buffy's desk chair "Are you in love with him?" She questions as Buffy begins to look uncomfortable "I was".

Mom sighs heavily "Were you careful?" I stood up "Mom, I don't think..." Mom gets up again "Don't 'Mom' me" she shouts then turns to Buffy "You don't get to get out of this. You had sex with a boy you didn't even see fit to tell me you were dating and you, you didn't even tell me your sister was...".

I felt my anger boil and stood "No I didn't tell you anything because it was not my place to say, how can Buffy show better judgment when we haven't seen what that even looks like?" I shout and Buffy grabs my arm trying to calm me down.

"Nikki.. I" Mom starts but I shake my head "Do you even know what it's like living with someone who could care less about where you were? I thought coming here would be different and I know you care about us, I just don't think you care as much as other parts of your life, like the gallery".

Mom looks at me with a guilty expression "Girls I... I know I'm not around much but I still love you and want to know these things I'm your mother" She says stroking the side of my face before turning to Buffy.

" I know that I-I can't tell you everything," Buffy tells Mom "How about anything? Buffy, you can shut me out of your life, I am pretty much used to that. But don't expect me to ever stop caring about you or your sister, because it's never gonna happen. I love you two more than anything in the world" Mom says as she sits on the bed giving me a pointed look.

I sit next to her with a big sigh "That would be your cue to, uh, roll your eyes and tell me I'm grossing you out" Mom mutters aloud "You're not" Buffy and I say in unison making our mom smile "Oh, well... I guess that was the talk".

"So how'd it go?" Buffy asked as we all look at each other "I don't know. It was my first" I smirked before letting it drop "I'm sorry" Mom looks at me and bend my head forward planting a kiss on it "I love you" I smile at her words and look at Buffy and whisper "Always".

Walking downstairs I see Willow sitting in the living room looking a little awkward Buffy sits down by Willow and before I can sit the phone rings " I'll get it" I tell them before running back into the dining room to get it.

Picking up the phone I lean against the wall "Hello?" I say waiting for someone to speak "Nikki?" I smile knowing who it was "Giles, hey! We did the thing. It worked" I tell him happily knowing we were safe for now.

"Nikki it's Jenny" My blood runs cold as I notice the sound of Giles' voice "What?" I ask already knowing what he was going to say "She's dead Nikki, Angel has killed her" lowering the phone from my ear as I stare blankly into the wall.

"Nikki?" Buffy says as she walks into the room with Willow who takes the phone from my hand "Giles?" Buffy walks over to me and grabs my arm and gasp when a tear runs down my face and I slide down the wall letting out a sob It was just a dream a stupid dream.

"What? No!" Willow screams as she puts the phone down "No!" Buffy looks between Willow and I "Jenny's dead" Willow hiccups to Buffy who falls back into a chair in the dining room with a shocked look on her face as she and Willow begin to cry uncontrollably "Noooo!".

Mom comes into the dining room and pulls Willow and Buffy into her arms and put her arm out to me but I look off into space and lower my head onto my knees not deserving the hug that I desperately needed.

Buffy stands and walks over to me I haven't moved an inch since Giles rang "it was supposed to be a stupid dream" I tell her as she looks at me confused before realizing "You foresaw her die?" she whispered and she puts her arm around me.

"I've never had a prophetic dream I just thought it was because I hadn't slept and had Angelus on the brain" I murmured as a tear falls down my face "I could have saved her" I whispered as my sister looks at me heartbroken "No he would have killed her anyway" she tells me wiping away the stray tear I let fall.

"Xander and Cordelia are here" Willow says as she looks between Buffy and I, we both nod and stand before going outside to see Cordelia and Xander who are waiting for us, Xander opens the passenger door and gets out "Where's Giles?" I asked crossing my arms.

"No luck. By the time we got to the station the cops said he'd already left. I guess they just wanted to ask him some questions" Xander tells us and I nod my head still affected with the burning feeling of guilt.

"Cordelia, will you drive us to Giles' house?" I ask Cordelia just nods softly and gives us all a small smile "Of course" Willow frowns at us as we walk over to Cordelia's car "But don't you think he wants to be left alone?" she asks gently knowing Buffy and I were very upset right now.

I stand up straight as the others look at me for an answer, I give out a deep puff of air "I'm not worrying about what he wants. I'm worried about what he's gonna do" Getting to Giles' apartment, Xander pushes the door open where a piece of yellow crime scene tape is stretched across the doorway "Hello? Giles?" Xander calls from the doorway.

Growing I gently pushed Xander aside and ripped the tap from the door and walked into the apartment as the others follow me "I guess Giles had a big night planned tonight" Xander says as we look around to see the romantic state of the apartment.

Buffy picks up a sketch of Jenny and shows it to me "Giles didn't set this up. Angel did" Buffy sighs as she hands the sketch over to Xander who shows Willow and Cordelia "This is the wrapping for the gift," I say as Buffy heads off upstairs.

"Oh, man. Poor Giles" Xander whispers as he hands me the sketch and walked over to Willow and Cordelia, I frowned as I stared at the sketch with a lump in my throat, I could have prevented this.

"Look, all his weapons are gone" I heard Willow say behind me, putting down the sketch I sighed and turned as Cordelia spoke up "But I thought he kept his weapons at the library".

Xander shook his head quietly "No, those are his, uh, everyday weapons. These were his good weapons. The ones he, uh, breaks out when company comes to visit" Buffy comes back downstairs and stops on the corner landing.

"So he's not here?" Willow asks as she sees Buffy who shakes her head "Well, then where is he?" Cordelia asks looking at us annoyed "He'll go to wherever Angel is" I say giving Buffy a look.

Xander turns to face "That means the factory, right?" I nod at him as I feel Buffy's gaze on me "So Giles is gonna try to kill Angel then?" Cordelia asks looking at each of us.

Xander sniffs "Well, it's about time somebody did" Willow looks over at Xander shocked "Xander!" she shouts "I'm sorry, but let's not forget that I hated Angel long before you guys jumped on the bandwagon".

I looked over to Buffy who just looks down sadly "So I think I deserve a little something for not saying 'I told you so' long before now. And if Giles wants to go after the, uh, fiend that murdered his girlfriend, I say, 'Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'" Xander finishes as we all look at him with nothing to say.

Buffy steps down from the stairs "You're right" She says as we all look at her "Thank you" Xander whispers and Buffy nods in support "There's only one thing wrong with Giles' little revenge scenario" Buffy announces as the rest of the gang look at her.

"And what's that?" Xander asks looking at Buffy "It's gonna get him killed" I say aloud causing all eyes to drift over to me, sighing I followed the others outside closing Giles' door behind me.

The others stood waiting as I turned and pulled the yellow tape back over the door making them look at me weirdly "What?" Buffy shakes her head and turns to Xander "Get Cordelia and Willow home, we'll get Giles".

* * *

 

  

Running into the factory I gasp seeing Angelus lifting Giles up by his neck "All right. You've had your fun. But you know what it's time for now?" Angelus taunts before Buffy kicks him in the back letting Giles fall to the floor "My fun".

I run past Buffy looking for Spike and Drusilla but they were nowhere to be seen, running back to Buffy I see her grabbing Angelus' legs through the railings but he kicks out at her with it and knocks her off of him and onto the floor as he scrambles up the stairs.

Knowing Buffy was down I knew I had to stop Angelus I turned to see a stack of crates and run up it to the catwalk above. I jumped in front of Angelus there who swings at me but I duck and kick him in the back of the knee making him collapse onto the railing.

Grabbing a loop of rope I threw it around Angelus' neck and yanked him back and forth between the railings several times before kicking him in the chest making him stagger back and fall onto his butt.

Angelus gets back up with a roar and dives towards me, I jump and grab onto a pipe above my head and swings with both feet into his chest making him fly back into a barrel and some ducting.

Lifting my fists I wait on the catwalk for him to come at me again, Angelus jumps up easily and charges forward, grabbing his coat I push him past me and onto the catwalk grating, where he lands with his head against one of the vertical railing bars "oh baby, you are gonna be fun".

Looking down at Angelus I gritted my teeth feeling the anger and hurt he had caused run through me as I start to kick and punch him repeatedly until he starts to laugh, grabbing him by the coat I bang his head into the railing a couple of times.

Angelus just smirks at me "Are you gonna let your old man and sister just burn?" my eyes widen as I look down and see the flames getting higher and nearer to Giles and Buffy who was just beginning to come to.

Angelus takes advantage of my distraction and grabs my legs and throws me over the railing. Landing on my feet I grab Giles as Buffy watches Angelus run off down the catwalk and out of the building.

"Buffy!" I shout as I start to pull Giles out of the building, Buffy turns and runs after us as we make it out unharmed. Coughing I gasp when Giles pushes me away from him angrily "Why did you come here?! This wasn't your fight!" he shouted at me upset and hurt.

I look at him for a second before I punch him in the jaw making him spin and fall to the pavement as Buffy looks over to me in shock "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" I shout as tears run down my face.

Buffy also begins to cry and crouches down to hug him, Giles cries and hugs her as I look on feeling guilty for all the pain Giles was feeling before walking over to them and throwing myself into their embrace "You can't leave us. We can't do this alone".

* * *

 

Standing by Jenny's grave with Buffy and Giles I watch as Giles kneels down and lays some flowers on her grave. He looks at her name on the headstone for a moment before standing back up "In my years as... Watcher... I've buried... too many people but Jenny was the first I've loved" he whispered as he looked at Buffy and I.

I sniffed as I looked at him "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my dream sooner, this could have been prevented" I tell him shaking as he put his arm around me and leans his head on top of mine "No, I believe Angelus would have done this either way" Giles muttered as I moved away from him.

Buffy looks up at him with a frown "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't kill him for you..." She said as looks down at the grave "for her... when I had the chance". I looked down at the grave which just read 'Jennifer Calendar'.

Buffy puts her hands in her pockets as she bends down to the grave with a hard look on her face "I wasn't ready but I think I finally am. I can't hold on to the past anymore. Angel has gone. Nothing's ever gonna bring him back".


	37. Killed by Death

**Word count: 9460**

**Warnings: Implied child murder/death.**

* * *

 

Walking to the cemetery with Buffy I jump and hoist myself over the wall easily and landing on the ground softly like a hunting predator, looking up I frowned when a pair of hands hook over the top of the wall and Buffy slowly pulls herself up with a loud cough as she pulls her legs over.

Putting my hand on my hip I watch as my usual gazelle-like sister jumps down with the grace of Bambi, when she hits the ground she loses her balance and I grab her arm quickly.

"I told you to stay home B" I whisper as she sniffles "I'm fine," she says before putting her hand on her forehead groaning as we make our way through the graveyard.

Hearing a scream I turn to see Xander holding on tightly to his own stake, Cordelia lets out a high-pitched scream behind him and I see Willow is there too, both girls reflexively hold up crosses at us looking spooked at our arrival.

I laugh seeing the scenario before frowning playfully "Hey she may look dead but she's still living" I tell them with a smirk before Buffy lets out a big cough "just about" I tell them grimacing.

They all step out into the open "Man! My whole life just flashed before my eyes!" he called out before glancing at us "I gotta get me a life!" Buffy looks at Willow annoyed "What are you doing here?".

Willow looks at Buffy equally upset "What are you doing here?" Buffy gives Willow a look "Well, I'm patrolling!" she retorts sniffing "Buffy, you're sick" Willow said looking at Buffy concerned.

"No, I feel fine. I mean, I'm... the world's spinning a little bit, but I like it, it's kinda like a ride. Plus Nikki's here." Willow gave me a 'you should know better' look.

"Half the school's out with this flu. It's a serious deal, Buffy. We're all concerned about how gross you look" Cordelia tells Buffy seriously "I'm touched. Really. But I have work to do" Buffy tells them.

"Buffy, come on, one night of rest is not gonna kill you. Plus you could get Nikki sick by being around her" Willow says pointing over to me "I don't get sick, never have except for that night when I was activated..." I saw them all giving me a look shutting me up.

Buffy shakes her head trying to cover her cough "No, but it might kill somebody else" Xander points at her with his stake "You mean Angel might".

Buffy turns away "Buffy, this is not the time to challenge Angel for the ultimate fighting championship," Xander tells her as he gestures with his stake "He's at full strength, you're only half a Slayer".

"Yeah, but I'm still a Slayer. And as long as I am, Angel's not gonna kill anybody else" Buffy says looking at us seriously "Aw, c'mon" we all turn around to see Angelus behind us "Just one more" he taunts with a smirk.

He roars making Cordelia and Willow scream, Angelus runs right past Buffy straight for Cordelia and tackles her to the ground, Buffy grabs him by the back of his coat and pulls him off of Cordelia.

Angelus easily blocks her attacks with his arm "Not feeling well, lover?" he smirks as he taunts Buffy who looks up at him and punches him in the jaw, she grabs his foot and shoves his leg up making him fall hard onto his back "That helps".

Buffy comes at him from behind and tries to kick him, but he kicks out with his leg into her chest, and she staggers back, Angelus grabs her arm and takes her by the throat "You know, you being off your game's kinda takin' the fun out of all this" he growls at Buffy as he punches her in the face, and she stumbles backward again.

"Nope, still fun!" He punches her in the gut, then grabs her by the neck and shoves her around and into a corner column of the small mausoleum, Buffy is dazed and tries to regain her balance I walk forward but she shakes her head "No!" she tries to get up but doesn't get a chance because Angelus knocks her flat on her back.

Angelus jumps on top of her and pins her arms down "Uh-oh. This does not look good for our heroine" Angelus shouts tauntingly, I frown unable to watch anymore I lift up my arm and Angelus flies off of Buffy.

Getting up he growls as I run at him punching and kicking as he fights back with a laugh before grabbing my arms "We're going to have so much fun together" he whispers to me as he leans in closer.

Getting my legs in between us I kick him off of me as Willow and Cordelia pull out their crosses and hold them out at him as he gets up, and he has to back off "Take a walk, overbite" Xander tells him as I pick Buffy up.

Angelus slowly backs away as he eyes the two of us "We'll have to do this again sometime" He turns and walks off with us watching him, we all turn to Buffy whose eyes were still in Angelus' direction.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Xander asks as we stand around Buffy who puts her hand to her forehead "I told you guys to leave, I... I... Oh..." She falls to the ground unconscious "Buffy!" I call tapping her cheeks picking her I looked at Cordelia "Hospital now!" I shout as we all run to her car.

The 4 of us ran into the hospital "We need help!" I shouted out loud as people walked around us, seeing someone in scrubs "Hey you help now! Please" I beg as he walks over to us quickly "What happened?" he asked us and Willow, Xander and Cordelia all shouted at once "She fell. The flu. She fainted."

A nurse brings over the gurney "The flu, fainted and fell. She's sick, make it better!" I tell him as he looks at me as he pulls the gurney close "It's gonna be okay. Let's get her up".

I watch as Xander lays Buffy out on the gurney and the doctor takes out his pocket light and checks Buffy's eyes, the nurse takes notes while he speaks as they start to wheel her into the emergency room as we all follow.

"Patient's unconscious... Pupils are unequal and unresponsive" The doctor calls out as he begins to wheel Buffy down the hall "What does that mean? Is she gonna be okay?" I shout looking at the doctor.

"Please, you gotta give us some room," he tells me as I shake my head looking down at my sister in worry "What do we have?" I look up to see another doctor walking next to us "High-grade fever, possible fractures".

The doctor nods "Get her into Trauma 1, give her a CBC, Chem 7, type and screen" The other doctor nods as he continues to wheel Buffy on the gurney "Right" The doctor and nurse take Buffy through the doors to the emergency room.

We all try to follow but the doctor blocks our way "I'm sorry, you can't go any further" The doctor says "Someone should be with her!" Xander calls out but the doctor shakes her head.

"She's my sister!" I yell but she shakes her head again "I'm sorry! You can't go any further" She backs in and closes the door in our faces, feeling angry I heard things begin to shake and shatter as screams rang out.

"Nikki!" I gasped when Xander grabbed my hands as Willow and Cordelia looked at me worried I looked around to see things out of place or broken "I'm sorry I just.. she.. she wouldn't let me.."

Xander shushed me and he pulled me into a hug as I gripped the back of his shoulders with a sob as I continued to eye the door "Please don't leave me".

Cordelia, Xander, Willow, and Giles are sitting on a row of chairs in the waiting room with worried looks on their faces, I was pacing up and down waiting them to come and tell me something... anything.

I look over at the elevator as the doors open and mom runs out looking worried "Mom!" I called out as she ran over and threw her arms around me "Where is she?" mom asked as she pulled back.

Giles comes over and looks at mom "She's still in the emergency room" Mom nods and looks around "I wanna see her" she starts out of the waiting room but Cordelia stands up "They won't let us in there".

Mom stops and looks back at her just as the doctor comes to the doors "Summers?" Mom and I both turn to face the doctor "Yes?" The doctor smiles at us softly "I'm Dr. Wilkinson" she starts but mom just shakes her head.

"Is Buffy okay?" she asks and Dr. Wilkinson smiles politely making me want to knock it off her face "We were able to stabilize and..." I growl and interrupts "Is she okay?".

Dr. Wilkinson looks at me shocked before nodding "She's going to be fine" I let out a heavy sigh as mom looks relieved "Thank you" The doctor nods "I wanna keep her here a few days, though. She still has some healing to do" she says as mom and I look at her anxiously.

The doctor showed us to the hall upstairs near Buffy's assigned hospital room where we're all waiting for her to be brought up, when I see her coming they I ran to her "Buffy?" I whisper grabbing her hand as everyone else came over "Hi, sweetheart" mom says softly as she smiles at Buffy.

"Hey, Buffy, we're all here," Xander says as we all walk by the side of her trying to keep up with the doctor pushing her "Hey. Here we are. It's all of we. Are we taking me home?" Buffy groans as she tries to get up.

Dr. Wilkinson pushes her back down "No. Buffy, you need to lie down, honey" Buffy looks at her "Yeah? Lie at home. My bed is better than any bed that's... not my bed".

I look at my sister worried as the doctor looks at me "She's still a little out of it" I nod and hold on to Buffy's hand tighter as she gently squeezes it back, Buffy turns to Xander "Shhh! Hospital zone. No singing".

I smile at Buffy in amusement as the doctor looks at mom "She'll feel better after she's been here a while" Buffy tries to get up again "No! Lemme go. Look, I wanna go" Buffy cries out as the orderly pushing the bed, two nurses and Dr. Wilkinson struggle to get her to lie back down.

Buffy puts up a fight and I put my hand on her shoulder pushing her back down effortlessly "Buffy, what's wrong?" Willow asks as Buffy continues to struggle against my arm.

"No! No! Let me go!" Buffy screams as Cordelia looks at me "I think she wants to go" I just sigh and continue to keep my pressure on Buffy as she screams "No, don't do that! Stop it!".

Dr. Wilkinson looks at as "Hold her steady!" my eyes widen when I see her pull out a syringe "Giles, tell them!" Buffy shouts as she tries to get to Giles "The vampires! I need to kill the vampires!" I gasp and look at the others as they look back at me.

"This'll help you relax," Dr. Wilkinson says as she puts a needle against Buffy's inside elbow and injects her with a sedative making cry out in pain "Ow! No!".

"It's gotta be the fever" Xander tell the doctors with a small laugh and Willow catches on "Yeah, it made her delusional" Buffy looks at me intensely "They're out there!".

I look up at Giles who smiles at Buffy reassuringly "Yes, uh, well, we'll, uh, we'll get those, uh, vampires later" he tells her laughing lightly as he looks at mom "I hear it's best t-to play along".

The sedative takes effect and Buffy begins to relax, One of the nurses checks her IV as mom leans in and strokes Buffy's hair "Honey, listen..." she starts but Buffy looks at her "I wanna go home" mom smiles sadly as she continues to stroke Buffy's hair "It's gonna be okay. I promise".

They start to wheel her away again and Buffy looks at me pleadingly "Please don't make me stay here..." I let out a stray tear as Buffy is wheeled into her room as we all wait outside.

I watch through the window intently as they get Buffy hooked up and comfy in the room "That was a new experience. I'm not used to seeing Buffy scared like that" Xander says out loud.

"Yeah, she just hates hospitals. Ever since she was a little girl" mom tells them "What happened?" Willow asked and I turned around to face them "When we were eight our cousin Celia died in a hospital".

I look at their faces and they looked shocked and sad "Yuk!" Cordelia says sympathetically as Mom nods "Yeah, they were all very close" Willow turns to me with a sad look "Wow, and you were eight?".

I nod as we all turn back to look at Buffy "Well, it looks like she's asleep. I should go call her father" mom says as she looks at me when I huff "Why bother? He doesn't care".

Mom looks at me intently "But he's still your father" I turn to her quickly with a look of indignation "That is not my fault!" everyone went quiet as mom just looked at me with a small sigh.

"Um, I-I think there's a, a phone..." Giles stutters as he shows mom the way to the phones as I turn back and watch as my sister sleeps peacefully as my friends stand by me.

"Do you think she's gonna be okay in here?" Xander asks aloud as I keep my gaze on Buffy "I don't know, Lysette got her nose done here, and she came in looking for the Gwyneth Paltrow, and it looked more like the Mr. Potatohead" Cordelia steps over to the door and looks into Buffy's room.

"Cordy..." Xander starts as we look at Cordelia annoyed "Buffy's not here for cosmetic surgery" Cordelia shrugs "No, but while she's in here, she might as well get that thing done".

"You know, that thing on her face," she says as she faces us "You know that thing" I glare at her as Willow looks at me worried "Do you think Angel will attack Buffy in here?" she asks as she plays with her hands nervously.

I nod with a heavy sigh "He can come in, it's a public building" I tell her as he face drops and her eyes open wide with fear "That's true" Cordelia sighs and looks at us annoyed that we're ignoring her "Am I the only one that's noticed that thing?".

Leaving Buffy to rest, mom and I drove home in silence knowing that the other was worried about Buffy, mom stopped the car in the driveway and sighed as she looked over to me "She'll be fine she's in the best place" she comforted as she put her hand on my knee.

I looked at mom seriously but nodded knowing there was nothing I could do to help Buffy "Yeah" there was a lot of things I could fight or fix but the flu was not one of them.

Getting out of the car I walked upstairs and into my room and sitting on the bed silently thinking about how much I despised hospitals and how my last trip was the start of my becoming the Slayer.

Sighing I changed into my bed clothes and sat in front of my mirror brushing my hair, throwing down my hair brush I stood walking over to Buffy's room, looking over to her bed I smiled when I saw the one thing that would help me right now.

"Okay, no funny business now Mr. Gordo and no telling Buffy" I jokingly smiled at the stuffed pig as I walked back into my own bedroom and getting into bed putting Buffy's stuffed pig next to mine and closing my eyes with a happy smile.

_***The clock on the nightstand changes to read 2:27 am the sound of a heart monitor beeped continually as a drip accompanied it, my eyes blink several times before I looked over at the door it's standing open, and a young boy is there just silently staring in at me.** _

_**A few moments later he starts away down the hall, I continue to look out the door in wonder before a mysterious figure passes by the door, following the boy.** _

_**My eyes widen seeing the man's alarmingly white face, beak-like nose and ugly red-rimmed eyes and just as quickly as the figure appeared, it was gone.*** _

Gasping I sat up in bed as the sunlight beamed through my window, running a hand through my hair I pushed back the covers and stood grabbing my sketch pad and pencil before drawing the demon looking guy from my dream.

Holding up the sketch pad I grimaced "Urgh" he was exactly like I had seen in my dream, putting Mr. Gordo and the drawing in my bag I ran downstairs and grabbed an apple before waiting for the bus.

I smiled as a car pulled up in front of me "I'm uh going to see Buffy, would you like to?" I grinned when Giles looked out of the window at me.

Tossing my apple core into the bin I got into the car and smiled at my watcher "Thanks, Giles" I said as he concentrated on the road "No uh it's no problem" he stuttered as he shifted his glasses.

Silence overtook us as Giles drove to the hospital I frowned as I thought of Buffy alone in the hospital before remembering about Celia, something I had long tried to forget, Celia was our favorite cousin she would always play with us.

I smiled remembering that Celia was always roped into playing our favorite game The Power Twins where Celia was always the helpless victim, Buffy and I were superheroes fighting crime and saving innocent citizens of the world.

_**Celia is on the bedroom floor covered with pillows and writhing around, pretending to be trapped under a pile of snow and ice "Help me, help! Avalanche! Help! Help! I'm trapped! Avalanche! Help! Help!" she screamed out loud playfully.** _

_**Buffy and I come in through the door and stop in a heroic stance with hands on our hips "The Power Twins to the rescue!" we shout in unison as we kneel down and starts to heave off the pillows as though they're huge, heavy blocks of ice and snow.** _

_**"Help me! Help! Help! Please, help!" Celia screams again as we continue to pull the pillows off of her, Buffy gets the last pillows off of Celia's face and she sits up "You saved me! Thank you, Power Twins!".** _

_**Celia throws her arms around mine and Buffy's neck and pulls us into a tight embrace as we all smile at each other "You're safe now" I tell her with a big grin as she smiles at me happily.** _

"Nikki?" I frown and look over to Giles who was looking at me in concern "Huh?" I ask as I looked around noticing that the car had stopped "We're here.. are you okay?" Giles questioned keeping his eyes on me.

"Yeah I'm fine," I told him as we got out of the car and walked into the hospital where Willow, Xander, and Cordelia were sat "Hey!" Willow called waving us over.

"Hey, guys" I greet as Giles smiles and nods as we all walk over to the elevator and up to Buffy's room "I'm sure she's fine the doctor said she would be okay," Willow told me comfortingly noticing my lip biting.

Getting to Buffy's room I noticed her and the doctor looking at each other before Giles knocked on the door "May we come in?" Dr. Wilkinson nodded with a smile "Please! Maybe you can keep our patient from bolting".

We all stand quietly as Dr. Wilkinson leaves the room, Xander walks over to Buffy with 5 balloons in his hand "Flowers for milady" Buffy looks up at Xander weirdly "I think they call those balloons" Xander looks up at the balloons.

"Yeah, stick 'em in water, maybe they'll grow," he tells her with a laugh as Willow steps up with a grin "Not to be outdone..." she grins happily and sets school books on the bed as we all look at her strangely.

Buffy grimaces as she sees her school books "Homework!" she says giving Willow a look "It's my way of saying, 'get well soon'" Willow exclaims still smiling "You know, chocolate says that even better" Buffy tells her with a pout.

"I did all your assignments. All you have to do is sign your name" I look at with my mouth agape "Is it too late for me to start getting sick?" I mutter as Buffy beams at Willow "Chocolate means nothing to me".

I laugh and pull my backpack from my back and open it "Now it's not already done homework but I think you'll love it all the same" I tell her as I pull Mr.Gordo from my bag.

Buffy gasps and pulls the stuffed pig from my hands and buried her face into it before raising her eyebrow at me "Why does he smell like you?" my face felt hot as the other looked at me in question.

"Mr. Gordo may have spent the night in my room" I muttered to Buffy as she looks at me "I just thought that you'd want him and I didn't want to forget him and..." I stopped when Buffy smiled softly at me.

I stepped back and we all looked over at Cordelia "Nobody told me I was supposed to bring a gift. I was out of the loop on gifts" She tells Buffy giving us a sharp look as Giles steps forward.

"It's, it's tradition among, um... people" Giles stutters as he looked at Cordelia incredulously "Um... Grapes" Giles tells Buffy who smiles when he sets the bag down.

"Well, did you, uh, pass the night well enough?" Giles asks Buffy who shakes her head, a nurse comes into the room and walks around the bed quietly "Not really. Something happened I thought you...".

The nurse stops to check Buffy's IV "You know what? Let's take a walk" Buffy says and the nurse looks up at Buffy "I'll get a wheelchair" Buffy nods and I look at her with a grin before following the nurse to get Buffy's wheelchair.

"Here you are one wheelchair I expect no funny business or trouble," the nurse says as she gives me the chair with an expectant look "me? I'm never any trouble" I tell her with a wide smile.

I pushed Buffy in the wheelchair as the others walk alongside "Now, this part I could get used to" Buffy relaxes in the chair with a smile "Do you want me to go real fast?" I ask her with a grin before getting a look from Giles.

I push Buffy close to a bench where we sit away from the other people around the hospital "We were discussing, um, stuff" Giles asks as he leans closer to Buffy.

"Yes, stuff. Um, you know, a girl died here last night" Buffy tells us and I frown in sadness getting reminded of Celia. "How?" Willow asks and I nod thinking this would be something for a Slayer.

"Well, the flu" Buffy mutters obviously seeing our faces "Flu doesn't exactly sound monsterrific" Xander tells her seriously "Nothing we can do about the flu" I mutter feeling helpless against the disease yet again.

"I know. But there's this Dr. Backer, and he's been giving them these experimental treatments. I-I'm not sure what he's up to, but he's a little creepy. A-and then there was this kid, Ryan. He said he saw something" Buffy told us all with a stutter.

"Saw what?" Giles asks quietly as we hang on Buffy's every word, Buffy's head slowly rose and I was shocked by the look in her eyes "Death" Cordelia scoffed next to me "Death?" I nudged her even though I felt skeptical too.

"The Death? As in, 'it is your time'?" Willow questioned as we all sat quietly wondering if Buffy had been hallucinating again "Buffy, a-a-a frightened child..." Giles started obviously trying to make sense of what Buffy said.

"Yeah, but I thought I saw something. I'm not sure, I was really out of it, but..." Buffy looked over at me but I didn't say a thing "But you do know that you saw death" Cordelia asks folding her arms.

"Did it have an hourglass?" Willow asked Buffy in wonder "Ooo if he asks you to play chess, don't even do it. The guy's, like, a whiz" Xander laughed in jest "Maybe it wasn't death. Maybe it was something else" Buffy whispered looking down.

"So this isn't about you being afraid of hospitals 'cause your friend died and you wanna conjure up a monster that you can fight so you can save everybody and not feel so helpless?" Cordelia said out loud causing us to look at her in shock.

Cordelia looked around before turning to me and jumping when she saw the angry look on my face "Cordelia, have you actually ever heard of tact?" Giles chastises looking aghast "Tact is just not saying true stuff. I'll pass" Cordelia tells him whilst taking a nonsubtle step away from me.

Willow looked down at Buffy sympathetically "Your mom did tell us about your cousin" Buffy looks over to me "This has nothing to do with that. This little boy Ryan is afraid of something, something real. As long as I'm forced to stay here, I'm gonna find out what" Buffy tells us all confidently.

I stood up and put a hand on my sister's shoulder knowing that she needed someone on her team right now "So, is this the part where I say, what can we do to help?".

* * *

 

Walking into the library with Giles and Willow I sigh putting my bag on the table and turn to Giles "So, where do we start?" I ask him crossing my arms waiting for him to delegate, Giles looks over to me a little distracted.

"Hmm? Oh, I don't know. Maybe look into the history of the hospital, bizarre incidents, that sort of thing" he says unenthusiastic, Willow steps up beside me and frowns at Giles "I'm sensing a little less than full committal here".

Giles stopped and looked at Willow and I seriously "Oh, I-I suppose so. Cordelia may be insensitive, but she may also be right" my eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

Giles sees my look and quickly carries on "Death and disease are, are things, possibly the only things that you and Buffy cannot fight. It's only natural for her to try to create a-a defeatable opponent, Especially now, after... after Jenny".

I sighed sadly "That's true but on the 'we live on the Hellmouth' side, these kids may have seen a monster and if my sister says she saw something then I'm going to agree with her".

Giles nods and starts toward the stacks as Willow sits on a chair and I sit on the table "What, a monster that grown-ups can't see? Doesn't ring a bell. Unless..." he pauses and turns back to us "Unless?" Willow asks when Giles stops talking.

"Well, sometimes small children do see something we adults don't: us. Our true selves, our, our... our hidden faces" Giles explains as Willow and I nod in realization.

"So the kids might be afraid of a regular person?" I question as Willow's face lights up in realization "Like the weird doctor!" She exclaims.

"Stanley Backer was his name, no?" Giles asks as Willow nods getting up "Let's look him up" Willow runs to get her laptop and I sigh sitting down on the chair as Giles leans against the table deep in thought.

Willow comes bouncing back into the room obviously excited about our sleuthing when she trips over her own shoe "Ahh" gasping I stood up and instinctively threw my hands up.

Willow suddenly stops before she hits the ground and the laptop is stuck in the air "Are you?" Giles questions as he slowly stands "Well unless Willow learned how to levitate I think so".

Giles looks at me in shock and excitement "Two objects, you can telekinetically handle two different objects" I just nod still in shock as Willow grabs her laptop that was still in the air.

I look over to Giles whose face holds a smile and his eyes twinkle with pride "I'd say your powers are definitely growing" he said as Willow walked over to me clutching her laptop to her chest "Thanks" she muttered looking a bit white.

I smiled knowing that laptop was like her baby "No problem" I say as Willow starts surfing for information, I smirk as Dr. Backer's medical database file comes up on the screen "Looks like our friend Dr. Backer has a rap sheet".

"Reprimands for controversial experiments, risky procedures, a malpractice suit. Looks like it was dropped suddenly" Willow says as she reads from the screen "Factor in Buffy's observation that he gives her the, um, uh, wiggins..." I smirk at Giles' use of the word wiggins.

"This may be our death guy?" Willow asks us as she turns in her seat "I just wish I knew what he was doing to these children" Giles says with a sigh as Willow and I look up at him sadly.

* * *

 

Walking down the hall of the hospital I thought about the information Willow, Giles and I found last night about the Dr. Backer, bad malpractice but that doesn't make him a killer.

Stopping at Buffy's door Giles knocks respectfully as we all step into her room with Willow closing the door behind us, I nod at Xander and Cordelia who were sat with Buffy.

"Uh, well, it looks as if you, uh, were on to something" Giles starts but Buffy just plays with her hands with a sad look on her face "I know" Giles walks around the bed "The, uh, the, the girl Tina, um, it's apparent that she, she died of the fever".

Giles sits next to Buffy's bed "It's simple enough, but, but her records show her improving and then suddenly deteriorating w-w-w-without any apparent cause" Giles explains as Buffy looks up at him emotionless.

Willow sits on the end of Buffy's bed "So we checked Dr. Backer out. This guy was not a solid citizen" She explains but Buffy shakes her head as soon as Willow stops talking.

"It wasn't Backer. He was clean" She tells us with a heavy sigh "What do you mean 'clean'?" Cordelia asks shifting her eyes from Giles to Buffy, I just look at my sister disturbed "What do you mean 'was'?".

Buffy looks at me "He's dead. This thing killed him, and not with kindness" she says as she hands Giles a picture "You saw it?" Willow asked looking at Buffy in shock.

"No, it's invisible. I saw Backer nearly shredded and the thing knocked me down but it's real. Which means I get to fight it" Buffy tells us with a nod.

"Oh. Um... Well, it would help if-if we knew what it was. I-it's invisible to you, but the, the children can see it" Giles stutters as he holds the paper in his hand.

Standing by Giles I take the paper from his hand before gasping and dropping the paper on the floor as everyone looks at me "What?" Buffy calls to me as I look at the paper on the floor.

"You've seen it?" Giles guessed as I continued to gape, nodding I grabbed my bag and pulled out the paper that I had forgotten all about before turning it around making my friends all gasp in shock.

Giles gently took the paper from my hand and studied it "You saw him? This is your work?" I nodded my head to both questions and turned to look at Buffy as she looked at me in concern.

"I was so worried about you I forgot all about it," I tell her as I fold my arms across my chest " I had a dream but I don't think it was my dream," I tell her as her face lights up in realization "It was mine" she whispered.

"I was so delirious. I mean, it didn't make any sense I couldn't see him clearly" she said aloud before turning to me "but you could" I nodded seriously.

Giles looked at Buffy and I in surprise "You shared a dream, It would uh... would make sense because you are both twins and Slayers" he acknowledges "Why would I see it then and not last night?" Buffy asks quietly as the door to the room opens and mom comes in.

"Good morning" she calls with a smile and sets down the bag she brought with her "Ooo, looks like I interrupted a secret meeting" We all let out forced laughter "You sure didn't!" Cordelia laughed smiling widely.

"Honey, I, I just talked to the doctor, and she said I can take you home," Mom tells Buffy as she kisses our cheeks, I look at Buffy wide-eyed "No. I should stay here" Buffy tells mom putting on a sick face.

Mom looked at Buffy confused "But, honey, I thought you'd be raring..." Buffy interrupts mom "I think my symptoms are flaring up," she says as she acts sick, I put my had on her head "Ohh yeah she's burning up".

"She doesn't look well" Willow joins in as mom looks at us all worried "'Cause I'm not well. Uh, I feel all oogy" Buffy tells mom with her fake sick face "Increased ooginess. That's a danger signal" Xander says seriously.

Mom turns and looks at Buffy concerned "Are you sure?" Buffy nods quickly as we all look at mom apprehensively "Oh, yeah, but just for a day... or s-so".

"Okay, well, I'll, uh, I'll talk to the doctor," mom says as she leaves the room and Cordelia closes the door behind her.

"So what's the drill?" Xander asks rubbing his hands together excitedly "Giles, see if you can get anything on that guy. I need to know what I'm fighting, Nikki you go with him you're the only one that's really seen him" Buffy said giving out orders to us.

Giles and I nod "Right. Yes" Giles says walking around the bed "I'll check Backer's office. See if I can find any post-its marked 'why a monster might want me dead.'" Buffy tells us seriously "Sounds like a plan" Xander muses as Buffy looks over to Willow.

"Course, if I find anything, I won't know what it means, so, Will..." Buffy added and Willow's face lights up "Oh, yeah, I'm good at medical stuff since Xander and I used to play doctor all the time," She tells us with a grin as Xander chuckles when he gets a few looks "No, she's being literal".

I smirk when Xander gets a look from Cordelia "She used to have all these medical volumes, uh, and diagnosed me with stuff. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was playing it wrong" he explains as Cordelia continues to glare at him.

Willow frowns confused "Wrong? Why?" Willow turns to Buffy and I "How did you play doctor?" she asks "I never have" Buffy and I call in unison as Cordelia raises her eyebrows.

"Um, fascinating though this is... Nikki shall we?" I nod with a smile as Giles starts to stutter obviously not want to talk about that subject in front of group of teenagers.

"Yeah, right. Go!" Buffy shouts giving us a smile as I grab my bag putting the paper back into it "W-w-we'll call you if we... know something" Giles tells Buffy as she pulls me into a hug.

"Know something soon" she whispers to me and I nod "We'll get him Buff don't worry" I promise as she gives me an uneasy smile "Always?" she asks sounding like a little girl again, I smile and whisper back "Always".

* * *

 

Sitting in the library with Giles and Cordelia we are going through a stack of books on the table, Giles is holding my drawing for comparison on the monster.

I look over to Cordelia who turns a page and finds a picture of a demon "Eww, what does this do?" she asks Giles who looks over his cup of tea "What?" he asks confused as Cordelia pushes the book over to him "What does this do?" Cordelia asks again.

Giles looks in the book "Uh, it, uh, extracts vital organs to replenish its own mutating cells" Cordelia gasps in disgust "Wow! What does this one do?" she asks again making me smirk when Giles looks at her annoyed.

"Um, i-it elongates its mouth to, uh, engulf its victim's head with its incisors" Giles responds "Ouch. Wait, what does this one do?" I lean back in my chair waiting for the explosion.

"It asks endless questions of those with whom it's supposed to be working so that nothing is getting done" Giles snaps as he rubs his temples in frustration.

Cordelia looks shocked for a second "Boy, there's a demon for everything" I snicker as Giles slaps down my drawing and gets up from the table in disgust as he takes off his glasses and rubs his forehead.

"I don't even know if we're on the right track. Since this, uh... miscreant has only been seen by select individuals, there's a chance we won't ever... find a picture of it" Giles rants as he paces by the table.

"Well, it's not in here," Cordelia says with a sigh as she closes her book, my eyes widen when I see that on the cover is a drawing of the monster we're searching for "Giles" I call quietly holding the book up to him.

Giles looks down at it and puts his glasses back on, Cordelia gasps when she sees the monster on the front "I'll call Buffy" she tells us and runs into Giles' office.

Finding more out about the monster Giles and I walk into the office "I found a picture of how it kills. Let me talk to her" Giles says to Cordelia as he places the book down in front of her "Oh! Eww!" she squeals when she looks inside the book.

I hear Buffy talking on the phone but Cordelia just ignores her as she continues to look into the book Giles found "Oh! Uh, you should see this thing! The way it does its thing, I mean, eww!" Cordelia cringes as she hands the phone to Giles and gets up.

"Why do I let you guys drag me into this stuff?" she asks me before walking out of the office "We've saved her life from numerous monsters and now she's squeamish," I say to Giles as he puts the phone to his ear.

"Uh, uh, Buffy? Are you, are you still there?" Giles calls down the phone as he sits in the chair next to me waiting for Buffy's response.

"Uh, the, um, the Kindestod gorges by sitting atop his prey, pinning it down, uh, helplessly. Then he slowly draws out the life. I-it must be, uh, h-horrifying for the victim" I feel every breath in my body be taken away with Giles words as I'm suddenly hit with a memory.

_***Walking forward into Celia's room Buffy pulls aside the curtain around Celia's bed "Celia?" we call in unison to our sick cousin, Celia wakes and starts to scream as she holds her hands in front of her as if trying to push something away.** _

_**"What's wrong?" I shout as my favorite cousin keeps screaming at the top of her lungs in complete terror I gasp not knowing what to do "I don't know what to do, Celia!" I shout at her but she just continues screaming and swatting with her hands at something unseen.** _

_**Buffy runs out of the room and down the hall screaming "Help! Help! Help! Somebody help!" the further she gets the quieter her screams become "Get it off of me!" Celia screams to me but there's nothing I can do.** _

_**"Come on, Celia!" I shout trying to get Celia to run with me "Get it off of me!" she screams again sounding in pain, I turn to the door but no one is coming in spite of all the screaming.** _

_**Celia stops screaming and looks at me looking as white as a ghost "I love you Nikki" she tells me breathlessly as he eyes begin to close, I feel a few teardrops run down my face as I grab her hand "I love you too. Always".*** _

Giles puts down the phone and looks at me "Nikki? Are.. are you ok?" I stare into space as Giles continues to look at me "Nikki?" he calls as he puts his hand on my shoulder with a little shake.

"w-what is it?" he asks as a couple of tears fall down my cheek "It killed Celia," I tell him as he puts a comforting arm around me as I shake remembering how I couldn't save Celia.

I asked Giles to take me to the hospital to be with Buffy who no doubt had realized that Der Kindestod was the monster who took Celia, walking up to Buffy's door I saw her and Willow talking inside, knocking on the door Buffy's head shot up.

"Nikki?" she called softly as she stood and wrapped her arms around me "It was him wasn't it, he got Celia," Buffy asked as she pulled me over to her bed where she and Willow looked at me expectantly.

I just nodded "What happened that night after I ran?" Buffy asked looking ashamed of herself, sighing I clenched my hands together as my emotions began to waver.

"You left and Celia kept screaming at me to get it off of her but I couldn't help her," I told them as they both looked at me sadly "You couldn't help because you couldn't see anything" Willow reassured as my eyes started to fill up.

Buffy squeezed my hand waiting for me to continue "she just kept screaming but I didn't know what to do, no one came to help us and then she stopped screaming. She turned to me and told me..." I stopped and looked at Buffy "She told me she loved me".

Buffy looked at me in realization I had never said those words since that night except when I was begged to by Buffy "I'm sorry" Buffy mutters as she pulled me into her "We have to get it Buffy, I won't let it get anyone else".

"But how? I-I can't even see it" she asks as she stands "You saw it once" Willow offered but Buffy shook her head "my mind was playing tricks on me. I mean, I was crazed with that fever. Who knows..." Buffy stopped short and looked at me as her face brightened. She had an idea.

* * *

 

I looked around Dr. Backer's office as Buffy rummages in his refrigerator looking for the flu bacteria "Buffy, think about this" Willow begs as Buffy looks through the different vials.

"I have. Lots of thoughts" Buffy tells Willow who just shakes her head looking worried "It's crazy" Buffy sighs as she picks up one of the test tubes and turns to Willow "The fever. That's how you see the Kindestod. That's why Celia could see it. That's why Ryan still can. It's the only way".

When Buffy moves from the refrigerator I crouch down and start to look through the vials "But how are you gonna fight this thing with 107-degree temperature?" Willow questions as I pick up one of the vials I give it a tentative sniff before putting it back.

"I guess we'll find out," Buffy tells Willow confidently as she uncaps the tube and raises it to drink the serum "Buffy!" Buffy sighs and looks at Willow annoyed "Willow, I'm going to do this".

Willow just looks at Buffy seriously "Buffy, that's 100% pure. It'll kill you in an instant" Mine and Buffy's eye widen as we look at Willow "Oh. They really should put that on the label".

Willow reaches passed me into the refrigerator for a bottle of drinking water and grabs a beaker that's sitting on top "It needs to be diluted" Willow explains as she pours some water into the beaker and closes the bottle.

"Okay, but this better work fast," Buffy tells her seriously as Willow takes the test-tube and draws some of the serum into a dropper she holds it over the beaker and lets a single drop fall in, "Faster than that" Buffy tells Willow with a raised eyebrow.

Willow looks up at her worried but gives in and puts another drop into the water, Buffy takes the beaker in her hand and looks at it then over at Willow and then me as I sat in front of the fridge still looking.

"Here's to my health" Buffy mummers as she drinks the water and serum shaking in disgust when it goes down, Willow turns to me with a raised eyebrow "You know you can get sick just from smelling those, some of them are airborne viruses".

I just smile at her and close the refrigerator "Willow I never get sick, now let's get this thing" I tell them as we leave Dr. Backer's office and to the children's ward.

Walking down the halls we look around us to make sure no one can see us, Buffy looks like she is already feeling the effects of the virus, I grab her and pull her into my side as she wobbles.

"Oh, God. I'm not sure this was such a good idea" Buffy moans into my shoulder as I drag her down the hall "Hang in there. You'll be okay" Willow comforts Buffy as we continue to the children's ward.

As we reach the door to the ward Buffy looks in through the door's window "The kids. They're gone" Buffy says as she turns to me as we exchange a worried look.

"What could have happened?" Willow asks when Buffy looks at her "I don't know. Maybe we're too late. Maybe they moved" Buffy put a hand to her forehead "Maybe I don't... I'm burning up!".

I look at her in worry and push her aside and look into the room myself "Buff" I call back "What?" she groans in response "I think it's in there".

Buffy pushes past me and looks into the window Buffy's eyes go wide with fear and I knew she could see the Kindestod "Buffy" I whisper as she just stares through the window unmoving.

Suddenly Buffy tries to get into the room but the door was locked and she was too weak to open it "It's going after them! We gotta get 'em" She shouts to me.

Buffy flops against the door making me grab her "Buffy?" Dr. Wilkinson call from the other end of the hall "Okay, we'll get 'em in a second" Buffy tells us as she clings to me "What's wrong?" Dr. Wilkinson asks as she rushes over to us.

"I, uh, she's not feeling well again," Willow tells the female doctor who pulls Buffy away from me and starts to gently pull her back down the hall "You should be in bed" she scolds as Buffy shakes her head defiantly "No, no, it's not that bad".

"No, you're coming with me," Dr. Wilkinson tells Buffy as she starts to pull her away, Willow and I look at each other not knowing what to do until Buffy pushes Dr. Wilkinson away and starts to run down the hall.

Willow and I quickly follow "She's sorry!" Willow calls back to the fallen doctor as we run after Buffy, walking through a pair of doors two security guards are coming for us "Okay, come on now" the one calls as he holds his baton threateningly "We can do this the easy way".

Willow starts to swat at herself with her hands "Frogs! Frogs! Get 'em off of me!" The two guards make for her "Oh, my God, frogs! Get them off of me! Please, help!" Willow screams again.

Buffy grabs my arm and we edge around the corner before quickly running down the other hall, running through another set of doors I see Xander sitting in the hall across from the nurse's station.

Xander looks up and sees us as he jumps to his feet "are you two ok? Did Angel..." Xander asks quickly as Buffy leans into me again as she tries to steady herself "No. We need to get to the basement".

Finding the door to the basement I kick it open and help Buffy down the stairs to the basement tunnels "You don't know how to kill this thing" Xander asks as I practically carry Buffy through the tunnels.

"I thought I might try violence," Buffy tells him as she breaths heavily again "Solid call" Xander agrees as we make our way through the tunnels looking for the children and hoping we weren't too late.

Suddenly the sound of screaming had me and Buffy running in the direction of the kids, I look around confused as the majority of the kids are huddled together except the one who sat on the floor screaming just like Celia did and then I realized he was here.

Buffy lifts up a pipe and swung it down "You make me sick" she growls as she swings the pipe at it again but it stops in the air before flying out of her grip, Xander takes the opportunity to go to Ryan and lift him up from the floor.

Xander carries the boy over to the other kids as I watch Buffy who is not in top form as fights the Kindestod or well nothing as I see it, suddenly I see Buffy thrown against a pipe.

"Xander get them out of her" I call as Xander nods and starts to herd the children away "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Hurry!" he calls throwing a few glances over at Buffy along the way.

I run over to Buffy and pick her up not knowing where the Kindestod was until I was thrown into the wall by the invisible monster, hitting the wall I fall to the floor as Buffy get up and swings her fists twice in the air.

Xander rushes back over to me when the kids we safe and picks me up from the floor "Ow my arm" I groan seeing my arm bent in the wrong direction "Ok I'm gonna go ahead and say that's broken" Xander jokes as I look at him with a raised eyebrow as I hold onto my arm "ya' think?!",

Looking back over to Buffy I stand with Xander as we watch her fight, Buffy kicks her legs up but it just looks like she's fighting thin air, Buffy is lifted up and thrown into some sections of large duct tube.

I gasp when I start to see the outline of The Kindestod its eyes bug out and split open "eww" I call as Buffy just lays there too tired to continue fighting, squinting my eyes I brought up my good hand and concentrated when suddenly a loud snap rings out.

The Kindestod falls over dead next to Buffy and she looks over to me shocked as Xander pulls her up, I look down at the Kindestod's prone body feeling empty "Are you okay?" Xander asks looking at Buffy.

"Actually I think I'm starting to feel better. Let's..." She takes a step but loses her balance and falls into Xander he puts his arm around her to support her and his other arm around me as we walk back through the tunnels.

"He's dead right? I mean, I heard something snap" Xander asks as I clutched at my arm "That would be his neck courtesy of Nikki's telekinesis. How did you manage to see him? Not getting sick are you?".

I smirked at my sister as we go back up into the hospital to get Buffy back into bed and to get my arm fixed "How many times Buff, I don't get sick".

* * *

 

Laying in Buffy's bed back at home mom walks in with a sandwich on a plate and a glass of juice "Here you go, honey. Peanut butter and jelly, without the crust, just the way you like it".

"And the juice?" Buffy asks as she takes the plate from mom "Two parts orange, one part grapefruit" Buffy smiles happily "That's my drink".

"I measured it exactly," Mom tells before turning to me "and for you, it's medicine time" I sit up with a cough and a sniffle as everyone look over to me with a smirk "You all suck," I say through a blocked nose.

Buffy laughs before looking at the sandwich "Oh, mom?" Buffy calls as mom was spoon feeding me my medicine I had caught the flu from playing with the vials in the doctor's office and that was how I was able to see the Kindestod.

"Mm-hm?" mom answered as she turned to Buffy "I wanted crunchy peanut butter," Buffy tells her with a frown "Oh, sorry" Buffy gives the plate back to mom "A-and I said extra jelly".

Mom smiles "Anything to help my daughter get well" mom starts to leave "Oh, and while you're up, could I get a refill? It's just I'm so comfortable" Mom nods with a small smile and takes Willow's glass "Of course".

"Oh, oh, oh and another bag of cheesy chips," Xander asks as Mom raises her eyebrows at him "Uh, you ate the last one," she tells him but he just shakes his head "No, there's another bag hidden behind the raisins".

"I'm on it," Mom says as she leaves "Your mom's tryin' to bogart the cheesy chips. What's that all about?" Xander asks seriously as he turns to us before frowning at me "I thought the doctor told you to stop that".

The girls turn to see me using a pencil to scratch the inside of my cast "It's so itchy" I tell them with a frown when Buffy snatches the pencil from me "I'm a Slayer I don't need a cast" I say with a small pout.

"Yeah what's happening about that?" Willow asked as she looked over to me as I tried to itch the inside of my cast again "Doc says she has to keep it on for about 8 weeks" Buffy tells Willow as I growl at the itching sensation on my arm.

"Although my arm will be healed a lot sooner" I huff as Mom comes back into the room holding an envelope "Oh, girls, here. Um, this came in the mail" she says as she hands it to Buffy.

Buffy reads the return address and smiles "It's from Ryan" she tells me as she opens it "The boy from the hospital?" mom asks and I nod as Buffy takes out the paper inside and unfolds it.

We all look over Buffy's shoulder at the picture "Oh, he drew you a picture" Mom coos sounding happy, I smile at the picture it's got Buffy and I standing over the Kindestod.

Buffy has her foot upon its chest and I have my arm lifted in the air, the monster's neck is split open and blood is gushing out. I laughed out loud as I see he had drawn my broken arm in the picture too "How... nice" Mom said as she walked out of the room

I smiled before sneezing and coughing straight after, I groaned and put my hand on my head as Buffy laughed at me "how you doing there champ?".

Glaring at her I let out a sneeze making her bookshelf explode, Buffy scowled at me as her room was now covered in books and pages, I turned to her with a nervous smile "My bad?".

* * *

  **Okay so I don't know if people actually read these notes haha but if you do, thank you!**

**Just letting everyone know there are about 4 chapters left in this book, so if you want a Q &A send in some questions for me to answer.**

**Also I will be putting warnings on top of each chapter now because the last chapter in this book has some things that people might not be comfortable with so just a warning for everyone.**


	38. I Only Have Eyes for You

**Word count: 7690**

**Warnings: Gun Violence and Murder.**

* * *

 

I sighed as walked down the empty halls of school silently I knew Buffy was feeling a little fragile right now so Willow took her to the bronze for a night of dancing whilst I patrolled.

"I'm not afraid to use it. I swear! If I can't be with you..." I frown at the sudden voice as I walk around the corner only to see a boy pointing a gun at his girlfriend.

"Hey!" I shout as he continues to point the gun his hands getting shakier "Oh, my God!" The girl turns and starts walking away as I start running at the boy, hoping to get to him before he shoots.

"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME, BITCH!" He screams at the girl who looks back at him in shock, I grab his arm, raise it and brings it down over my shoulder making him drop the gun.

I elbow him hard in the gut knocking the breath out of him I get a handful of his shirt and knock him to the floor, bending down I pick the boy up by the collar "What happened?" He asks looking at me and the girl.

"What happened?! You just went O.J. on your girlfriend!" I shout as the boy who looks at me in shock and shakes his head quickly "This is nuts! I... I don't know why I got so mad".

"Because you're a jerk?" I offer with raised eyebrows at the boy as he looks around lost "He's not. We weren't even fighting a few minutes ago" The girl tells me as I look at the boy suspiciously "We weren't, I, I swear to God!".

I sighed and threw my hands up in confusion "If you weren't fighting, then why'd you have a gun?" I ask him as I look around for the gun he had dropped.

The boy looks just as confused as we were "I don't, I don't know. I don't even know where I got it" my eyebrows scrunched together as I continued to look around for the gun "Well...crap" I mutter as the boy and girl huddle together looking terrified.

* * *

 

"So we have a couple who are supposedly in love fighting but not really and a disappearing gun," Buffy asks me as I tell her about what I saw last night.

"It makes no sense" I mutter as we walk through the school entrance when Principal Snyder slams his office door open and looks at the two of us.

"My office now" he calls to us as we look at each other and follow him into his office "I'm sure you know why I asked you here," Snyder says as he passes us and walks to his desk as we sit in the chairs in front of him.

"To thank me?" I guess as Snyder gives me a look "That's right, I wanna thank you. What would Sunnydale High do without you around to incite mayhem, chaos, and disorder?" he sneers making me both frown.

"I don't incite! I stopped that boy from killing his girlfriend, ask him. Ask them both!" I tell him with a serious look, we were always getting into trouble when saving people.

Snyder just smirked at me "People can be coerced, Summers. I'm no stranger to conspiracy. I saw JFK. I'm a truth seeker. I've got a missing gun and two confused kids on my hands. Pieces of the puzzle. And I'm gonna look at all the pieces carefully and rationally, and I'm gonna keep looking until I know exactly how this is all your fault".

I was about to respond when his secretary buzzes him on his office intercom "Mr. Snyder, Billy Crandal chained himself to the snack machine again" Snyder sighed and looked at the intercom in disdain "Pathetic little no-life vegan" he muttered as he stood and walked around his desk.

Buffy and I stood to go also but Snyder stands in front of us "Not so fast, I'm not done with you two yet. You stink of lies" He tells us and points back to the chairs.

I look at him and exhales angrily as I sit back down on the chair as he leaves and closes the door behind him "How is this fair?" I ask Buffy who just shrugs as I growl crossing my arms.

Buffy and I sit in silence until a dull thud sounded behind us, Buffy gets up and bends down and pick up a book that had fallen "What is it?" I ask looking over the back of the chair "Yearbook" she mutters as she looks at the cover before putting it back "This is going to be a long ass day" I sigh leaning my head back on the chair.

* * *

 

Sitting with Willow in the library I jump when Buffy and Xander burst through the doors "Xander, what happened? Did Cordelia win another round in the broom closet?".

I let out a loud laugh at Willow's unusually witty joke as Xander just glares at the redhead "You're just a big bucket of funny, Will" Xander walks over to Giles, who is kneeling and going through some books on a shelf.

"I'll have you know I was just accosted by some kind of, um, locker monster" Giles looks up quickly with his eyebrows raised "Loch Ness Monster?".

Buffy smiles and shakes her head "Locker monster is what he said. But it wasn't really a monster. It was, like, this big arm that came out of the locker, but then we opened it again, it was gone. Nothing".

"This was right after Mr. Miller starts doing some freaky channeling thing in class," Buffy tells us as Giles looks over us almost excited as he stands up "Ooh! Sounds like paranormal phenomena".

Willow bounces and smiles "A ghost? Cool!" Xander just looks at her seriously "Oh, no, no. No. No cool. This was no wimpy chain rattler. This was 'I'm dead as hell, and I'm not gonna take it anymore.'"

Giles looks over to us and sits on the arm of a chair "Well, despite the Xander speak, that's a fairly accurate definition of a poltergeist" Xander looks over to Giles shocked "I defined something?Accurately?" he closes a book on the table "Guess I'm done with the book learning".

Buffy sighs as Xander sits down at the table with us "So we have some bad boo on our hands?" Giles nods at Buffy "Yes" Willow glances over to Giles confused "Well, why is it here? Does it just wanna scare people?".

Giles walks over to the head of the table "Unfortunately, he doesn't know exactly what he wants. That's, that's the trouble. See, uh, many times the spirit is plagued by all manner of worldly troubles. Being dead, it has no way to, uh, to make its peace. So it, it lashes out, growing ever more confused, ever more angry".

I grimace as I sit back in my chair with a loud sigh "So it's a normal teenager, only dead" I say rolling my eyes "Well, what can we do? Is there any way to stop it?" Willow asks as we all look over to Giles expectedly.

Giles sits on the table "Uh, the only tried and true way is to work out what unresolved issues keep it here, and-and-and, um, resolve them" he tells us like it was simple, Buffy huffs "Fabulous. Now we're Dr. Laura for the deceased".

I gave a small smirk but couldn't help but wonder what spirit was dangerous enough to try and get a boy to shoot his girlfriend "Only if we can find out who this spirit is" he considers for a minute before looking back over to us softly "Or was".

* * *

 

The next morning Giles summons us to the library where he told us about the situation he encountered last night where the George the janitor shot and killed Ms. Frank but knew nothing about it after Giles tackled him to the ground, it was like he had amnesia about the whole thing.

"It was just as with the... the couple you encountered the other night Nikki, the...the janitor remembered everything. He, he knew he'd killed this poor woman, but he had no idea why. Well, they-they had no intimate relationship" Giles told us as he walks out of his office with a few books and heads into the main area.

"What about the gun? Did you find it?" I ask as I followed Giles around the library "No, no. The police, everybody, we-we-we-we searched high and low. I think it's very clear what's happening here" Giles tells us as he goes into the cage.

Xander sighs heavily "Fill me in then, 'cause I've read the book, seen the movie, and I'm still fuzzy about what's going on" The rest of us nodded along with Xander's request.

Giles looks out of the cage to us "It's Jenny" he tells us as he continues to put his books away "What?" I ask as my heart thumps against my chest where the guilt of not saving Jenny still resided.

"You think she's the ghost?" Xander questions Giles who moves away from the books and looks at us again "Well, don't you see? Well, she-she-she died here under tragic circumstances, a-a-and now she's trapped" I looked at Buffy who had the same look of shock.

Willow gives Giles a look of pity "But what about the gun? I mean, Angel didn't shoot Ms. Calendar" Giles shakes his head dismissively "The gun is insignificant. It's the violence of the thing that matters" he tells us as he goes back into his office.

"I don't know. These fights these couples keep having, it's sort of... specific" Buffy drawls out like she doesn't want to upset Giles over Jenny "She's right. It's a pattern that doesn't fit with the way Jenny died" I say knowing Giles heard me.

"Yes, well, I, uh, I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, I, in fact, I... well, I encourage you to, to always, uh, challenge me, uh, when you feel it's appropriate. You should never be cowed by authority" He says as he starts back in, but comes back his face full of denial.

"Except, of course, in this instance, when I am clearly right and you are clearly wrong," he tells us before going back into his office, it was obvious that it had nothing to do with Jenny but Giles was clinging on to any hope he could be close to her again.

I looked at Buffy, Willow & Xander and motioned at the doors they nodded and followed me out of the library, walking to the computer science classroom we all walk in still thinking about the spirit and Giles "This is freaky. I don't ever remember ever seeing Giles be this weird" Willow says as she sits in the chair behind Jenny's old desk.

"I know. He's usually Investigate-Things-From-Every-Boring-Angle Guy. Now he's I-Cling-Onto-My-One-Lame-Idea Guy. What gives?" Xander asks looking at us before stopping on Buffy who crosses her arms looking uncomfortable.

"He misses her. He can't think. Just a little more fallout from my love life" She says looking down avoiding our eyes. "Okay, but this ghost stuff is something else. Let me do a crosscheck on other shootings at the school" Willow negotiates.

"Yeah, we need some alternate ghost theories. What do we know?" I ask Willow leaning on the desk as her eyes roam the computer screen in front of her "Dog spit is cleaner than human" Xander offers making me looks up at him slowly "Besides that?".

Willow gasps obviously finding something "Oh, boy, we know plenty" I move from the desk and lean over her shoulder as she scrolls through a newspaper article on her laptop. The title reads "Sunnydale High Jock Kills Lover, Self".

"It says a student murdered a teacher on the night of the Sadie Hawkins Dance. The rumor was they were having an affair, and she tried to break it off. After he killed her, he went into the music room and shot himself" Willow reads to us.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a ghost. It is one of those two, right?" Xander questions making me nod "It all fits: the gun, the Sadie Hawkins Dance," I say my thoughts aloud "Which is tonight" Buffy interjects looking more serious than before.

"How come we've never heard about this murder-suicide thing before? When did it happen?" Xander asks looking confused but Buffy just exhales like all the puzzle pieces have come together "1955".

Willow and Xander both look up at her surprised "How did you know?" Willow asked Buffy who just runs out of the door "Uhh?" Xander looks me but I shrug as Buffy enters the room with a book open in her hands.

"Okay, here's the new strangeness. I dreamt about this woman, Grace Newman, the other day" Buffy said pointing to the picture of the deceased teacher before turning to a different page "Her and this guy".

Willow looks in the book and nods quickly "Jim Stanley? He's the one. He did it" Xander exhales and looks at Buffy expectantly "Your dreams are getting wicked accurate, Buff. You wouldn't happen to see me coming across some big cash? Or possibly knowing the love of a woman? In a full body sense?".

Buffy ignores him and walks around the desk with a sigh "He couldn't make her love him, so he killed her" She turns away from us "Sicko" Willow looks at the book again "He looks so normal on this picture. He was smart, too. He made the honor roll".

Buffy scoffs frowning "Smart?" I look at Willow and sigh "He killed a person and killed himself. Those are pretty much two of the dumbest things you could do" I told her I remembered how I felt when I thought I had killed Ted.

"I know, but... Well, don't you feel kind of bad for them?" Willow asked with a grimace on her face "Sure I feel lousy. For her. He's a murderer and he should pay for it" Buffy tells us her jaw set.

"With his life?" Willow asked sadly looking at each of us "No, he should be doing sixty years in a prison, breaking rocks and making special friends with Roscoe the Weightlifter" Buffy growls angrily.

"Yikes. The quality of mercy is not Buffy" Xander mutters looking away when Buffy turns to glare at him "Whose ghost do you think we're dealing with? His or hers?" I ask as I look at the book again.

"Well, considering how violent it is, I'm gonna say his" Buffy replies crossing her arms "That tracks" Xander affirms as Willow sits back behind the desk "Well, I've been browsing on some of Ms. Calendar's pagan sites. Maybe I can find a way to communicate with them and... we can find out what he wants".

Buffy frowns at Willow and exhales heavily "Who cares what he wants? We need to shut him down before some other innocent guy goes and kills some poor nice girl and then blows his brains out all over the music room wall".

Willow looked at Buffy silently whose gaze was on the floor but her jaw was wound tight "Okay!" We all look to Xander who smiles and rubs his hands together "Who's hungry?"

Sitting next to Xander in the cafeteria I stare open mouthed as he shovels in his 3rd hot dog "Wow watch your fingers" I tell him sarcastically as he turns to me and laughs so I can see his mouthful of food.

Grimacing I turned to Buffy and Willow who were also looking at Xander in disgust "Why do I always have to sit next to the human disposal unit?" I question as they both continue to watch Xander with grossed out expressions.

"You've got the strongest stomach," Willow tells me as put a hand to her mouth in revolution "Yay me and my strong like qualities" I mutter as Cordelia puts her tray on the table and sits down with a huff "Bad day?" I ask as she rolls her eyes obviously annoyed by something.

"I hope you guys aren't going to the Sadie Hawkins Dance tonight, 'cause I'm organizing a boycott. Do you realize that the girls have to ask the guys? And pay and everything? I mean, whose genius idea was that?" Cordelia rambled looking irritated.

Xander smirks at her as he swallows the food in his mouth "Obviously, some hairy-legged feminist" I grinned at Xander's answer "Really! Well, we need to nip this thing in the bud. I mean, otherwise, things are going to get really scary".

Suddenly a terrified scream rips through the cafeteria we all turn quickly to see a boy pulls his hot dog away from his mouth only to see he has a snake protruding from his lips.

I look down at my plate of spaghetti and see snakes all over it as well, we all quickly get up, except for Cordelia, who is too busy screaming when she finally looks at the table again a snake lunges at her and bites her on the cheek.

Grabbing the snake she throws it off of her and runs, turning I see a girl from my English class stood frozen in fear as snake begins to wrap around her neck, grabbing it I tear it away from her and throw it over the table.

"Let's go" Buffy shouts to us as Xander finds Cordy and helps her out of the cafeteria just as Snyder begins to evacuate the school, looking oddly calm for a man who just found his cafeteria full of adders.

Sitting next to Cordy and Xander in the ambulance I watch as more police storm into the building as the pest controllers start gathering up the snakes, students are still fleeing the building and running around like it was the end of the world.

"Perfect. I'm gonna be scarred and swollen. Why didn't they just kill me?" Cordelia mutters dramatically as a paramedic dresses her snakebite, I let out a short laugh before my eyes find Principal Synder who is whispering to the Police Chief.

Snyder's eyes met mine when the Chief walks off, our eyes never leave the others until Snyder walked off leaving me with the feeling that he was up to no good but on the Hellmouth that wasn't unusual.

* * *

 

Sitting on the window sill I watch as my mom walks down the path to her car only to look up as she put her bag and briefcase into the back seat of her car, she's going to the gallery and more than likely pulling an all-nighter there like she had been doing a lot of lately.

"She's gone," I tell Buffy as I waved to our mom out of my window as she get's into her car, turning I jumped onto my bed where Buffy sat, Xander's in my wicker chair, Cordelia is leaning against the bed and Willow is standing.

"Right remember the plan to contact the spirit and talk to it? Scrap that plan. Buffy, you were right. The time for touchy-feely communication is passed. I've done some homework and found the only solution is the final solution" Willow tells us.

"Nuke the school?" Xander muses to himself then smiles widely "I like that" we all turn to Xander and give him a look "Not quite. Exorcism" Willow declared getting a gasp from Cordelia "Are you crazy? I saw that movie! Even the priest died".

"What's the deal?" Buffy questioned as Willow lays down a map of the school building, and we all lean in to look "Okay, see here the balcony? That's where the original teacher died back in 1955 and that teacher last night. That's the hot spot where all the bad mojo is coming from. We need to create a Mangus-tripod".

"A what?" Cordelia asks making Willow sigh and points to the map "One person chants here on the hot spot. And the others chant in other places around the school forming a triangle. It's supposed to bind the bad spirit and keep it from doing any more harm".

Buffy took the map "Well, I'll take the hot spot. If there's trouble, that's where it'll be" I looked at my sister troubled "This ghost, this James guy, is fixating on you, Buffy. The dreams, the yearbook... You sure you can handle it?".

Buffy looks at me and lets out a small sigh "Well, I'm hoping he'll show. I truly am" I nod and see the look on her face, she wants this fight "wait so more stuff like today in the cafeteria might happen?" Cordelia piped up as she held her bad cheek.

We all looked at Willow who nodded slowly "Well then I don't want to be on my own, I could get hurt again" Cordelia moaned out childishly, when no one else answered Xander sighed but nodded "Ok I'll go with you" Cordelia looked at me then back to Xander "You're no Slayer but I guess you'll do".

The five of us made our way into the school armed with flashlights "Okay, we all have our places. We do the chant and light the candle at midnight exactly. Any questions?" Buffy asked as we all walked down the hall ready to get this ghost.

"Yeah, what if this mangled triangle thingy doesn't work?" Cordelia asks from by my side "Oh! I almost forgot. I made us all scapulas." Willow told us completely ignoring Cordelia's question as she hands the scapulas out.

Xander put his hand out waiting for Willow "Okay, so we can flip the ghost over when it turns a nice golden brown?" I let out a laugh at Xander joke as Willow gives me my scapula.

"Scapula, not spatula. Um, you wear it around your neck for protection" Willow informs us as I look at the chunky necklace in my hand before shrugging and putting it around my neck, pulling a face when it passes my nose.

"You expect me to wear this? It smells like grandpa breath" Cordelia groans as Willow turns to her with an apologetic look "Sorry, I didn't have a lot of time. I had to use sulfur. Stinky, but effective".

"Okay, let's do this" Buffy declares as we all continue into the student lounge "No problem. This will be a piece of cake. Right?" Cordelia says sounding a lot less certain than Buffy did.

Suddenly I hear a creaking and then a crashing noise, I jump and look in that direction and see that the doors at the end of the hall have slammed shut on their own, one by one the other doors at the ends of the two intersecting halls slam shut.

"Because that wasn't creepy at all" I mutter as we point our flashlights around the hall wondering if this was a bad idea "totally" Buffy agreed as we looked at the doors that led us to our respective points where we need to be to do this exorcism.

"Let's do this," I say as we all look at each other nervously before we all walked away from each other, walking down the halls that led to the library all I could think about was Buffy "God I hope this works".

* * *

 

3 vampires are sat in the deserted mansion that Angelus has acquired for them, Drusilla sifts through the dirt in one of the large planters, Spike is in his wheelchair and Angelus is on the bench behind Drusilla.

"Maybe I'll sleep underground. Dig myself a little burrow" Drusilla says aloud dreamily as she continues to dig her nails into the dirt "What about your pretty dress, sweet? It'll get all dirty" Spike mutters as he sits in the shadows with this hand keeping his head propped up.

Drusilla smiled crazily as she thought about Spike's question "Then I'll sleep naked. Like the animals do" Angelus smirked from behind her "You know, I'm suddenly liking this plan".

Drusilla lies down on the ground in front of the planter "Fortunately, nobody cares what you like, mate" Spike hisses at Angelus his jaw tightening as he watched the other vampire as he slides off of the bench and crouches, looking at Drusilla.

"Oh, yeah? Let's ask Dru" Angelus taunts looking at the women he had sired as she begins to laugh as she has a vision "There's a gate!" She says as she rolls onto her back, laughing "It's opening!" she whispers getting to her knees.

Angelus crawls closer to Drusilla "Incoming! I love when she does this" he tells Spike with a smirk but Spike continues to look at Drusilla "What gate, pet? What do you see?".

Drusilla bounces gleefully "It's black" she hums still bouncing "It wants her," she tells the other vampires with a hum "Wants who?" Angelus murmurs to Drusilla as he rubs his face against her making Spike's eyes close in frustration.

"The Slayer. It's time, Angel" Drusilla tells Angelus as she stands up her eyes never leaving Spike's almost like she herself is taunting him even though her words are not directed at him "She's ready for you now" Drusilla begins to dance slowly "She's dancing. Dancing with death".

Spike gives out a harsh sigh "Big deal. He won't do anything. Our man Angel here likes to talk but he's not much for action. All hat and no cattle" Spike grins as she thinks he's got one up on his grand sire.

Angelus looks at Spike knowingly and grabs Dru's waist as she continues to dance sensually "I don't know about that" he says as he turns her into his arms.

"I think this whole Slayer thing has run its course I'm ready to focus my energy elsewhere" Angelus aloud as he thinks deeply about his next move "plus we've always got that plan of yours for the other Slayer and honestly It's the smartest thing you've ever said" Angelus laughed spitefully.

Spike's eyes drop to the floor when he doesn't see Drusilla fighting against Angelus' advances she wants him "Really?" he mutters with nothing else to say.

"Oh, yeah! And what, with you being Special Needs Boy, I figure I should stick close to home" Angelus taunts again as he walks his fingers up Dru's thigh and waist "You and Dru can always use another pair of hands".

Drusilla coos with delight and Angelus chuckles maniacally as Spike looks at the two of them angrily "Powers they're strong" Drusilla gasps out as she has another vision, Angelus and Spike look on as she stares into space.

"the other Slayer her powers" Drusilla cries out as she begins to sway "but she's lost she..." Drusilla stops and her eyes meet Angelus' "What is it pet?" Spike asks seeing her eyes glinting with madness as continues to stare at Angelus who looks on eagerly "You take her for your own".

* * *

 

Willow and I split from the others and start to walk along the halls, Willow slows down to look down the other hall before continuing with me, suddenly Willow let's out a scream and I spin around waiting to see some ghost but it's only Giles who screams also.

"God, Willow, Nikki what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be inside" he tells us rubbing his temples as I continue to laugh "You scream like a girl" I grin making both Willow and Giles look at me.

"Us? What about you?" Willow questions crossing her arms as Giles takes off his glasses "I'm, uh, I'm, I'm trying to, uh..." he puts his glasses back on as he looks at us "I think I-I may be close to, uh, contacting Jenny".

Willow and I give him an understanding look after I finally calm myself down, Giles starts to go back into the library but turns back to us his face contorted as he sniffs the air "What's that smell?".

Willow smiles and holds up scapula "It's our scapulas," she tells him as I nod with a grimace as I catch a whiff of the scapula around my neck, Giles nods and looks closely at them "Ah, right, of course. Did you use sulfur?" he asks Willow who nods proudly "Yeah".

"That's clever. Uh, well, uh, run along then. Th-there may be some, uh, paranormal ph-phenomena if I contact her. Y-y-you don't want to be in the line of fire" Giles tells us as he goes back into the library and the door swings shut behind him.

"Okay. Night" Willow says as she turns to me when I sigh "Deep, deep denial in that man" Willow nods in agreement as we turn and continue to walk down the hall to our point of the triangle.

"Here," I say giving Willow the black candle and lean on the metal railing on the stairs as Willow climbs up to the landing on the stairs from the student lounge, she looks around nervously.

"Come on Will," I say and Willow sets her candle down on the floor when the floor below her suddenly starts to swirl, and a green demonic hand reaches up and grabs her, pulling her down.

"Damn" I shout as Willow starts to scream "Nikki help me" I drop my flashlight and grab her arms as the green arm tries to pull her down into the dark hole "I got you" I tell her struggling to keep her from being pulled in but not even my Slayer strength was enough.

"Giles!" I shout over my shoulder as Willow continues to scream and cry "GILES!" I shout again "WILLOW! NIKKI!" I sigh in relief as Giles shouts back.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" Giles calls out as he comes running into the lounge area "PLEASE! HELP! HELP ME!" Willow cries as Giles scrambles up the stairs to our aid "HELP! HELP! HELP! HELP!" Willow shrieks as she begins to sink further into the floor.

Giles grabs one of her arms and starts to pull with me, Willow screams again as the pit continues to try to suck her in "Let her go!" I grunt at the demon.

We manage to slowly lift Willow out together until Giles falls to the side and loses his grip on Willow, I quickly put my arms around her and pull with the help of my powers when she suddenly snaps into me sending us both go rolling down the stairs.

Giles gets up and to make sure that the pit is gone then sees us at the bottom of the stairs and races down to help us "Are you all right?" he asks looking worried as he picks Willow up as she sobbed.

"Giles, Jenny could never be this mean" She cries out as she leans into my shoulder her pale face looking whiter than before, Giles glances up at the landing and looks back to me "It's, it's not her, is it?" he asks looking upset.

Shaking my head I let out a sad sigh "I'm so sorry. I know what this meant to you" I say putting my hand on his as he gives me a fatherly smile. The town clock begins to strike midnight "Oh, God. Oh" Willow calls out as she scrambles back up to the landing to light the candle.

"Careful up here!" Giles yells as we both follow Willow up the stairs ready to defend ourselves if we had to, Willow struggles with her lighter and Giles crouches down taking it from her and lights the candle.

"I shall confront and expel all evil" Willow and I say together as we link hands looking at the black candle "Out of marrow and bone...Out of house and home... never to come here again".

Getting up I walk down the stair holding my hand out to Giles and Willow for them to wait, seeing nothing I looked around as I heard a faint buzzing that was steadily getting louder.

My eyes widened when at the far end of the hall I started to see a dark swarm of wasps coming towards us "Oh, my God!" Giles whispers grabbing Willow as we all break out into a run.

As we round a corner Buffy and Cordelia join them from another hall "You all right?" Giles asks over his shoulder as we continue to run down the halls, Xander comes running out of the cafeteria and keeps pace.

We reach the far end of the hall where the doors are jammed shut "Get back!" Buffy shouts as we both kick the doors open shattering the glass, immediately running out.

"Check it" Xander calls making us all turn back and look at the school "I'd say school's out for good" he jokes as we all stare in amazement the wasps have arranged themselves in a wall around the school so that nothing can get in or out.

Looking at the others I moved back "Come on" I called to them as I made my way down the street to my house, this obviously wasn't over yet and we couldn't just leave the school covered in wasps and infected with murderous ghosts.

When we got to the house we told Giles about the spirits and the research we had done on them "The good news is none of you girls were shot. Well, we've established, based on all the parallels and-and-and Buffy's visions, that it's James' spirit".

I nod and rub my eyes in frustration "So what do we do, Giles? About James" Willow asks as she holds onto her cup of tea that Giles had made her whilst I sip on my coffee.

"Well, he's obviously reliving the night of the Sadie Hawkins Dance when he killed Ms. Newman. It-it's-it's common enough for a spirit to do this, to... recreate a, a tragedy" Giles informed us.

"Hey. If Sunnydale High School shuts down forever, do we automatically graduate?" Cordelia asks as she munches a cracker, Xander gives Cordelia a look but ignores her as he turns to Giles "But why? What does he want?" Giles opens his mouth to talk but Xander interrupts him and points to Cordelia "Actually, that's an interesting point".

"He's, he's trying to... resolve whatever issues are keeping him in limbo. W-w-what exactly those are, I'm not..." Giles starts but gets interrupted by Buffy this time "He wants forgiveness" she mumbles looking annoyed and upset.

"Yes, I imagine he does," Giles says and stands up walking to Buffy "But when James possesses people, they act out exactly what happened that night. So he's experiencing a form of purgatory instead. I mean, he's, he's doomed to, to kill his Ms. Newman over and over and over again, and... forgiveness is impossible".

"Good. He doesn't deserve it" Buffy tells us as she keeps her arms crossed as Giles frowns "To forgive is an act of compassion, Buffy. It's, it's not done because people deserve it. It's done because they need it".

Buffy shakes her head slowly "No. James destroyed the one person he loved the most in a moment of blind passion. And that's not something you forgive. No matter why he did what he did. And no matter if he knows now that it was wrong and selfish and stupid, it is just something he's gonna have to live with".

My eyes meet hers when she looks over to me and I knew, this had nothing to do with James but this had everything to do with Angel "He can't live with it, Buff. He's dead" I say seriously as Buffy looks at us all for a moment, then stalks off into the kitchen.

I try to catch her arm but she moves and sniffs quietly before closing the door behind her "Okay. Over identify much?" Cordelia mutters at she still munches her cracker.

I looked over to Cordelia who didn't even know how right she was even when she was being her snarky self "So what do we do next? Do we go in again?" Willow questions Giles as she stands up from her chair.

"Well, not now. No, the, uh... the spirit is too angry, too, too powerful. No, we have to work out exactly how and, and if this thing can be defeated" Giles tells us and I nod taking a deep breath before standing up and making my way into the kitchen "Hey, Buffy, are you..."

I frown when Buffy was nowhere in sight but my eyes see something and I walk over to the counter picking up the flyer that lay on it, my eyes widened when I read the flyer "Class of '55 Sadie Hawkins".

"Oh damn it Buffy!" I growl as I shake the flyer in my hand "Giles!" I call and turn when he walks up behind me "She went back" I say showing him the flyer his eyes meet mine and we both run out of the house with the others following us blindly.

Standing in front of the school we watch as the wasps continue to swarm the building "ok let me try..." I say and flick my arm up but my telekinesis only moved a few wasps "Damn it move!" I shouted as I tried again but still nothing, lifting my arm up Giles grabbed it and shook his head.

"So what now? Not even a mega-vat of Raid's gonna do the trick here" Xander asked as we stood looking at the building where my sister had basically walked to her death "I don't get it. Is she trying to be a big loner hero or something?" Cordelia asked confused.

Giles shook his head as he looked down at Cordelia "No. I believe she's under the spirit's thrall. He's, he's calling her" Cordelia's face screwed up in confusion "But why?".

"James needs her to re-enact everything that happened on the night that he, he killed Ms. Newman. He wants to change things, make, make a happy ending" Giles explained to us making Willow panic "But it can't ever happen! It always ends the same, which means Buffy just went in there to get shot, Giles".

"But the school's deserted. There's no way for James to play his part. There's, there's no man inside for him to possess" I tell them hoping there was no one inside the building.

"So Buffy should be safe until we find a way to get her out?" Xander asks turning to me making me bit my lip "In theory, yeah".

* * *

 

Inside the school Buffy walks idly through the halls she stops by the trophy case and turns around, Angelus walks in behind her "Fun fact about wasps they have no taste for the undead. Not that a sting would do me any damage, it's just... tonight's special, I wanted to look my best for you".

"You're the only one. The only person I can talk to" Buffy sniffs softly with her back still to the vampire "Gosh, Buff. That's really pathetic" Angelus taunts as Buffy turns to face him "You can't make me disappear just because you say it's over!".

Angelus sighs as he approaches her "Actually...I can. In fact..." Suddenly Angelus' tone changes to a more upset and tearful one "I just want you to be able to have some kind of normal life. We can never have that, don't you see?"

"I don't give a damn about a normal life! I'm going crazy not seeing you. I think about you every minute" Buffy shouts tearfully as Angelus raises his hand to her cheek gently.

**_.1955. Grace puts her hand on James' cheek as he looks down sadly "I know. But it's over. It has to be!" She tells him as turns around and starts to leave, James looks up again and starts to chase after her._ **

Buffy chases after Angelus "Come back here! We're not finished!" She shouts at him angrily as she grabs him by the arm and turns him around to face her "You don't care anymore, is that it?".

Angelus starts to sob "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter what I feel," he tells Buffy sadly "Then tell me you don't love me!" she shouts at her ex-lover shaking him as the spirits possess them.

**_.1955. "Say it!" James screams distraught as Grace looks at him woefully "Is that what you need to hear? Will that help? I don't"_ **

"I don't. Now let me go" Angelus cries as he tries to go but Buffy won't give up "No. A person doesn't just wake up and stop loving somebody!" she angrily cries as her grip tightens on him.

**_.1955. Grace looks at James as he takes a step back, raises a revolver, pulls the hammer back and aims it at her._ **

Angelus looks at the gun and then at Buffy frightened "Love is forever. I'm not afraid to use it, I swear! If I can't be with you.." She tells him the gun shaking in her hand "Oh, my God!" Angelus mutters turning around and starts running out of the hall toward the balcony.

_**.1955. Grace begins to run from the hall as James stands behind her gun still in his shaking hand "DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME..."** _

"...BITCH!" Buffy screams as Angelus runs out of the hall, She runs after him. Angelus barges through the door out onto the balcony. "Stop it!" Buffy tells Angelus as she comes out the door with the gub still pointed at him "Stop it! Don't make me!"

Angelus stops next to the balcony railing his back to Buffy breathing heavily with fear "All right. Just..." he starts as he turns to face her.

_**.1955. Grace turns around to face James "You know you don't want to do this. Let's both... just calm down. Now give me the gun" Grace says gently as she holds out her hand.** _

James shakes his head with tears flowing down his cheeks "Don't. Don't do that, damn it!"

Buffy looks at Angelus angrily as she shakes the gun at him "Don't talk to me like I'm some stupid..." The gun goes off and Angelus flinches from the wound and has his hand clutched to his chest he pulls it away and sees the blood.

He looks up at Buffy but she stares back in open-mouthed shock at what she just did as Angelus looks at her "James".

_**.1955. Grace goes into shock from the bullet wound and begins to fall backward she tumbles over the balcony railing down to the base of the stairs below, James walks over to the railing and sees Grace below lying dead with her eyes closed he slowly goes back into the hall.** _

Buffy walks to the record player at the back of the room she turns it on and begins playing the record that was inside it.

_My love must be a kind of blind love_

She looks over into a mirror, and James looks back at her her eyes are full of tears as she looks at him. He looks down at the gun in his hand.

_I can't see anyone but you_

Buffy continues to look into the mirror as she holds the gun in her hand she raises it slowly, but a hand takes it and pushes it back down. She turns quickly and finds herself face to face with Angelus "Grace!" she shouts in shock as she looks at Angelus' living form.

"Don't do this" Angelus tells her gently as he holds on to the gun "But-but I killed you" Buffy whispers tearfully as she looks down "It was an accident. It wasn't your fault" Angelus tells her softly as she starts to cry "Oh, it is my fault. How could I...".

Angelus puts his fingers to Buffy's mouth "Shhh. I'm the one who should be sorry, James. You thought I stopped loving you. But I never did. I loved you with my last breath" Buffy lets out a few sobs but Angelus puts his hand on her cheek "Shhh... No more tears".

_**.1955. Grace and James kiss happily as they finally got to play out they're happy ending and things had changed now** _

Angelus and Buffy kiss as they hold each other tightly as they continue kissing for a long time, Above them in the ceiling a bright light appears, and the spirits of Grace and James leave this world for the next but as quickly as it appeared the light is gone.

Buffy and Angelus gently break off their kiss and open their eyes "Angel" Buffy mutters when she sees the softness in his eyes but suddenly he growls, pushes her away and runs from the room, leaving Buffy there in shock.

* * *

 

Finally, the wasps dispersed from the school and we all ran in going straight for the library hoping to find Buffy alive after the gunshot we had heard, pushing open the doors I sigh with relief seeing my sister alive, highly upset but alive.

"Buffy!" I say as I pull her into my arms "I'm sorry" she whispers as she holds me tightly a few tears of hers hit my skin. "Buffy why don't you go rest in my office and we'll go... go check everything" Buffy nod and walk into Giles' office.

I follow her and let her lean into me as we sit in the small office, there were not questions I didn't need to ask I knew by the look on her face "Are you feeling any better?" Giles asks Buffy when they finish looking around the school.

"James picked me. I guess... I guess I was the one he could relate to, he was so sad" Buffy says aloud as Giles sits on the other side of her on the couch we were sitting on.

"Well... they can both rest now," Giles tells us softly as we look at him quietly "I still... A part of me just doesn't understand why she would forgive him" Buffy mutters as I play with her hand "Does it matter?" I ask her as she sighs heavily "No. I guess not".


	39. Go Fish

**Word count: 7149**

**Warnings: Drugs? I guess?**

* * *

Standing by a fire with Xander, Cordelia, and Willow we were at a beach party for the swim teams victory “All I'm saying is, it's a stupid idea to have a victory party at the beach. It's officially nippy” Xander says as he looks down at himself “So say my nips”.

“I think it's festive. A party with nature” Willow says as she smiles at us, I nod along as I bring the red cup I'm holding to my lips “Well, it's the team's choice. It was their victory” Cordelia tells us as Xander sniggers at her.

“Team? Swim team. Hardly what I'd call a team. The Yankees. Abbott and Costello. The 'A'. Now, those were teams” He argues vigorously “Jealous?” I ask him with a grin as he shakes his head fervently “No. Y-yes, but 'no' more than 'yes'” He replies as a member of the swim team staggers by with a girl under each arm.

Xander sighs “I mean, look at that. Dodd McAlvy. Last month he's the freak with Jicama breath who waxes his back. He wins a few meets and suddenly inherits the cool gene?” he scathes looking envious.

“Well, all I know is, my cheerleading squad wasted a lot of pep on losers. It's about time our school excelled at something” Cordelia tells us as I looked up with a smirk“You're forgetting our high mortality rate”.

Cordelia gives a small laugh as Xander pumps his fist “We're number one!” He gets a few positive responses from nearby students making us girls laugh when he looks confused.

“Somebody help me!” I look over to see Jonathon's face gets pushed into the water and shaken around by Dodd who pulls Jonathon's head back out of the tub and holds him back by the hair.

“Come on, Jonny, you gotta hold your breath longer than that if you ever wanna make the team! Hey, somebody time him!” Dodd shouts at Jonathon, I drink more of my drink before making my way over to where Buffy had come out of nowhere and pulled Dodd away.

“Nice tat. What, they ran out of Tweety bird?” Buffy sarcastically asks as she shoves him down to the ground revealing his shark tattoo “Hey, what's your problem?” Dodd shouts at Buffy “You had it coming to you, bro” Cameron Walker tells him with a laugh.

Dodd gets up and starts to confront Buffy but Gage Petronzi gets between them “Chill, dude. A bunch of us are gonna take a little night dip down on the beach. You in?” Dodd looks at Buffy then the rest of us “Whatever”.

Buffy turns her attention to Jonathon “ Hey, let's, let's get you a towel” she tells the smaller boy gently but he gets up angrily “No. Why don't you mind your own business? I can handle this without your help” he shouts before running off.

Buffy sighs and faces Cameron “See? It's fun to hang out with me” I let out a laugh “hear hear” Buffy takes the red cup out my hand “I think that's enough now sweetie” I just smile at her and let her take the cup _“hear hear”_ I whisper to her again making them all laugh.

* * *

Dodd and Gage walked further down the beach with Dodd still feeling annoyed from Buffy embarrassing him in front of everyone “I can't believe Buffy. man, that girl gives me the creeps”.

Gage nods with a smirk “but her sister's hot man” he laughs until he smells something and stops in his tracks he takes another sniff of the rank-smelling air “Oh! Dude! What is that foulness?” He looks behind him and sees that Dodd has disappeared.

“Hey, Dodd!” Gage shouts as looks around the other way “Dude!” looking around again he finally gives up “Huh” he goes on to the group of people gathered under the pier, hoping to see Nikki Summers again.

* * *

 

Standing outside the computer room I was waiting for Willow to finish her lesson, I'd skipped class I was so not in the mood to learn today, my Slayer instincts were screaming at me it felt like I was being warned about something.

Groaning at the sound of the shrill ring of the bell I put my hands to my head as it pounded “Hey Summers” I looked up to see Gage leaning against the door frame of the computer room suavely “Hey Gage” I replied rubbing my head.

I looked up to see him looking down at me with a smile “What?” I snapped as he laughed shaking his head and walked away, I jumped when Snyder appeared from behind him “You should be more thankful that someone like Gage has shown interest in you Summers” he sniped as he looked at me cockily.

“Well tell me when he cures the world of cancer and I might take an interest,” I told Snyder sarcastically as he glared at me before entering the computer room where Willow was finishing up.

“Uh, hi there, sir, Nikki” Willow greets us “Rosenberg. How's the class? Everything in order?” Snyder asks with a tone of no real care “Well, actually...” Willow starts looking very worried.

Snyder interrupts her with a grin “Great. I've been talking to the board. We've been having trouble finding a competent teacher this late in the term. Do you think you could continue subbing through finals?”.

“Oh! Sure! I like teaching” I smile at Willow's excited bounce “Isn't that nice. You're a team player, and I like that. A team player wants everyone on the team to succeed. Wants everyone to pass” Snyder tells her with an edge of sneering.

“Well, yeah. Sure.” Willow agrees as goes to her desk with Snyder following her “I understand there's a problem with Gage Petronzi” He stops at one of the PC's and looks at it with his back to Willow “You don't say” I mutter as Snyder's head snaps to me with a glare.

I do the zipping mouth motion “Oh, good, then you know. Well, yeah. Besides the behavior problem, he won't do homework, and his test scores are...” Willow rambles as Snyder looks up exasperated.

“Well, actually, he doesn't have any test scores because he never shows up when we have...” Snyder turns to her and interrupts “I'm not interested in any of that. I'm interested in why, when this school is on the brink of winning its first state championship in fifteen years, you slap a crucial member of that team with a failing mark that would force his removal. Is that how you show your school spirit?”

Willow looks up flustered “Yes. Well, I mean... no. I'm just trying to grade fairly” Snyder nods sarcastically “Gage is a champion. He's under more pressure than the other students. And I think we need to cut him some slack” Snyder tells us giving me a look at the last bit of his sentence.

I see Willow considering his words “You're asking me to change his grade?” she asks him meekly as he stops and turns back “I never said any such thing” he says as he steps over to her “All I'm suggesting is... that you recheck your figures, and I think we'll find a grade more fitting to an athlete of Gage's stature. Perhaps something in a 'D'”.

“Oh, he's a D alright... D.I.C” I look up to see Snyder glaring at me again “Shutting up” I mutter when he turns and leaves “You ok?” I ask Willow who nods looks visibly shaken “Gage isn't the only D around here,” I tell her as we walk out of the room.

“What? Oh now I get it” she says with a small laugh before her face drops in horror “You can't call the principal that!” she says looking shocked “I think we've learned that Nikki can pretty much call anyone anything by now” Xander says as he and Cordelia catch up to us and walk beside us.

“Call who what?” Cordelia questions confused “Nothing. Anyway, Snyder asked Willow here to keep the swim teams grades up and ordered her to change Gage's grade to a D” I tell the other two as we walk through the school halls.

“Just like that? He actually told you to alter his grade?” Xander asks as we walk downstairs to the bottom floor.

“Exactly except for actually telling me to but he made it perfectly clear of what he wasn't telling me” Willow confirmed with a nervous stutter still shocked by the conversation.

“That is wrong, a big, fat, spanking wrong. It's a slap in the face to every one of us who studied hard and worked long hours to earn our D's” Xander argues outraged.

“Xander, I know you take pride in being the voice of the common wuss, but the truth is, certain people are entitled to special privileges. They're called winners. That's the way the world works” Cordelia tells him in a knowing voice.

Xander turns to her shocked “And what about that nutty 'all men are created equal' thing?” Cordelia laughed and shook her head “Propaganda spouted out by the ugly and less deserving” Xander looked annoyed and muttered, “I think that was Lincoln”.

Cordelia exhales “Disgusting mole and stupid hat” I laughed with her knowing she'd have something to say about his appearance “Actually, it was Jefferson” Willow informed us and Cordelia turned to her “Kept slaves. Remember?”.

“You know what really grates my cheese? That Buffy's not here to share my moral outrage about swim team perks. She's too busy being one of them” Xander groans annoyed.

“She's just trying to pretend her problems aren't real,” I tell them and they look at me shocked “We're you supposed to tell us that?” Cordelia asks looking at me shocked, I shrug my shoulders and walk away “Probably not”.

* * *

 

After leaving Cordelia in the lounge Willow, Xander and I go to the library were Giles tells us about Dodd's untimely death last night, we're all researching and looking through Giles' stack of books when Buffy comes storming through the doors looking pissed off.

“So I'm treated like the baddie just because he has a sprained wrist and a bloody nose and I don't have a scratch on me, which, granted, hurts my case a little on the surface, but meanwhile he gets away with it because he's on the 'aren't we the most' swim team...”

We all look up at her uncaring “...who, by the way, if no one's noticed, have been acting like real jerks lately...” Buffy stops when she notices our expressions.

“So” She giggles nervously “anything new with you guys?” Buffy questions as she sits with us “Thank you for taking an interest. Apparently, some remains were found on the beach this morning. Some human remains” Giles explained to her.

“Dodd McAlvy's remains,” I tell her annoyed, we were at the beach last night we could have helped him or at least find the thing that did this to him “Vampire?" Buffy sits forward suddenly interested.

Giles shook his head “No. No, he was eviscerated. Nothing left but skin and cartilage” he explained opening another book “In other words, this was no boating accident” Xander joked lightly.

“So something ripped him open and ate out his insides?” Buffy questioned with a grimace “Like an Oreo Cookie” Willow explained with a happy smile “Well, except for, you know, without the chocolatey cookie goodness” she corrects when she realizes what she said.

“Yes. Um, Principal Snyder has.. has asked the faculty to keep the news quiet for now, um, so as not to unduly upset the students” Giles told us shifting his glasses.

“For 'students': read 'swim team'” Xander says to Buffy and I nodded a little, I would be shocked to find anyone outside Dodd's family and the swim team to be upset about his death but being a Slayer I had to try and be neutral, no matter how much of an idiot he was.

“So, we're looking for a beastie” Willow explained to Buffy who was beginning to look confused “That, uh, eats humans whole... except for the skin” Giles added as he looks into his book trying to find something that fits this.

“This doesn't make any sense,” Buffy tells us frowning deep in thought “Yeah. The skin's the best part” Xander exclaims making me laugh before turning to Giles “Any demons with high cholesterol?”.

Giles slowly turns and gives me a look even though the others are smiling to themselves, I point at Giles with a smirk “You're gonna think about that later, mister, and you're gonna laugh”.

Knowing we were in for a long day of researching Xander left to get us all some sodas only to come running back screaming and shouting “Xander! What's wrong?” Willow shouted as he stopped.

“The monster it got Cameron” Xander exclaimed as he struggled to breath “What!” Buffy shouted getting up but Xander grabbed her “It's gone” he explained as Buffy turned to Willow “I've got an idea come on”.

Buffy and Willow walked over to the doors “Nikki” I looked up at Buffy “Draw that thing if Xander saw it we need to see it” I nodded as Buffy walked out with Willow following her.

Opening my bag I pulled out my sketchbook “Okay Xan-man start explaining” I directed as he started firing things at me, Cordelia walks into the library seeing Xander pacing “Ohh what happened here?”.

I looked up from my drawing and huffed “Xander saw a monster and now I'm having to draw it” Cordelia nodded and sensed my annoyance.

“No, no, no! The mouth's a lot bigger! And downward. Like this” Xander exclaims when he looks at the sketchpad in my hands I look up and see him make a face with the corners of his mouth turned down “With more teeth!” he yelled again making me grit my teeth.

I stood up and slammed my sketchpad down on the table and walked over to Giles “I'm doing the best I can with your crappy explaining skills” I growl at him as Giles takes off his glasses and looks up from his book over at Xander “Is that what you saw, Xander?”.

Xander picks up and looks at the sketch “Y... yeah!” he tells us before he looks back down at the book “I think so” he says again before considering it some more “Pretty much”.

Giles looks at him skeptically “Aaaaare you sure?” we all turn to face Xander and he looks sheepish “Well, it was dark! And the thing went through the window so quick, and I was a... little shocked when I saw it, and...”

Cordelia crosses her arms and huffs “Go ahead. Say it. You ran like a woman” she teases with a grin when Xander starts to protest “Hey, if you saw this thing, you'd run like a woman, too”.

Willow and Buffy walk back in “Buffy was right. According to the statistics, Dodd and Cameron were the best swimmers on the team” Willow explained to us and hands Giles the figures.

“First and second, actually. Which means if my theory's correct, Gage Petronzi, the third-best swimmer on the team, would be the next item on the menu” My head shot up when Buffy said Gage was the next one on the list.

“God, this is so sad” We all looked over to Cordelia shocked “We're never gonna win the state championship. I think I've lost all will to cheerlead” she moaned out with a pout “Raise your hand if you feel her pain” Xander says sarcastically.

“If you're saying these killings aren't random, it would suggest someone's out for revenge,” Giles says as he looks up from the papers Willow gave him.

“And raise the possibility that someone brought forth this sea monster from whence it came to exact that revenge,” Buffy says looking at me when I laugh “From whence it came'?” I say coping her as everyone smiles.

“I'm spending way too much time around you,” Buffy tells Giles “Who would hate the swim team that much, though?” Xander says deep in thought before he sees us all looking at him “Besides me, I mean”.

Willow suddenly gasps and raises her hand “Ooo!” I look at the small redhead next to me who was waiting to be called on “Willow?” I say questioningly as she grins at me and puts her hand down “Jonathon! He was bullied by Dodd the other day on the beach, remember?”.

“He did say he could take care of things himself,” I say aloud before looking at Buffy who nods, I turn to Willow “It's a good call. You should question him” I tell her making her light up like a Christmas tree “Really? Me?” Willow exclaims before looking at us menacingly “I'll crack him like an egg”.

“Meanwhile, I think, uh, swimmer number three might benefit from your... watchful eye and protection. Discreetly, of course” Giles says pointing to both Buffy and me “We're on it” I say saluting Giles turning to Buffy with a grimace “Let's hope he's not become a monsters delicacy yet”.

* * *

 

Getting home Buffy and I changed into different clothes ready for our patrol over Gage, knowing he hung around the bronze a lot we changed into something that wouldn't make him suspicious or smell like school.

“Ready B?” I call through her door as I give it a small knock “Yeah” she opens the door giving me a nod “let's do this” I smiled and followed her out of the house “So what do we do if we come across this thing?” I ask Buffy noticing our lack of weaponry.

“We send it back where it came from,” She tells me seriously as we see the lights of the Bronze, walking closer I suddenly get the feeling of something bad, my instincts were nagging me “Hey I'll just be a sec,” I tell Buffy who continues into the Bronze.

Looking around I see the side alley and slowly make my way over to it being cautious of any human eating monsters, I see nothing, but that doesn't mean that something's not here “Whose out here?” I call out dangerously and I was met with silence “I know you're watching me”.

Not being able to find anything I sigh deeply and back out of the alley and go into the Bronze where I see Buffy sitting at the bar “Where is he?” I mouth from next to the pool table when I don't see Gage, Buffy starts making hand gestures but I can't tell what she's saying.

“Summers” A deep voice called from behind me and I turn to see Gage getting up from behind the pool table, whoops “Gage” I greeted giving him a smile as he looks me up and down.

“Didn't think I'd see you here” he says as he chalks the top of his cue as I raise my eyebrow “Pool?” Gage asks offering me the cue making me grin.

“Ooh I would but I don't want to embarrass you” I tell him smiling when he laughs “I knew I'd like you” he says as I break before standing back up and handing him the cue “and why's that” I question as he pots two balls and missed the next “You're different from your sister” Gage mutters in almost disgust.

“What's wrong with my sister” I ask confused as Gage looks back at me “well come on you must have heard the rumors plus she broke Cam's nose for no reason” I look up at him in surprise “What rumors” I whisper wondering what people could be saying about Buffy she was so popular at Hemrey.

“Well she's always being really weird and acting like she's something special” Gage tells me looking annoyed, I had no idea people felt this way about my sister “Oh and she's been staring at me ever since she came in here” Gage almost growls as he throws the cue down on the table.

“Gage, wait!” I call as he walks over to the pillar Buffy was hiding behind “This me-and-my-shadow act? It's getting old. What do you want from me?” Gage spits out looking at Buffy angrily.

Buffy looks at Gage nervously “Well, um... It's a little embarrassing. You see, I'm a swim groupie” I close my eyes forgetting Buffy sucked at lying “Aha” Gage muttered unconvinced as he glances my way.

“Oh, yeah. You know, there's just something about the smell of chlorine on a guy. Oh, baby” Buffy tells Gage who just nods stiffly obviously knowing Buffy was lying to him and turns to leave.

Buffy runs around him and jumps in front of him making Gage stop “Uh, okay, okay, okay. Obviously, my sex appeal is on the fritz today, so I'll just give it to you straight. There's something lurking out there, and it's making fillets of the populace, and I think you might be next” I looked at Buffy shocked.

Gage looks down and gives me a look obviously taking my shock as me being shocked by Buffy's weirdness and whispers to me “See what I mean” Buffy looks at me confused until Gage looks back at her patronizingly “Uh-huh. And you think that because?”.

“Well, it's already attacked. It's already killed some people” Buffy tells him “You're one twisted sister, you know that? Cam told me about your games. Go find someone else to harass. See you at school Nikki” Gage mutters to me before he bumps Buffy as he walks past her.

Buffy sighs and looks down in defeat “Come on we can't let him go” I tell her as we make our way out of the Bronze “Ah! Somebody! Help! Ah! Help! Ah! Ah! Get him off me! Help! Ah!” my eyes widen at the sounds of Gage's scream.

Rushing into the side alleyway I expected to see some green ugly looking monster attacking Gage but instead, I see Angelus feeding off of Gage, seeing us Angelus drops a whimpering Gage.

Buffy does a roundhouse kick to his face but he isn't fazed, and just looks at her with a smirk, she pulls out the stick holding her hair up and holds it ready to stake him as her hair falls down around her face “Why, Miss Summers! You're beautiful!” Angelus growls at Buffy before winking at me.

Buffy takes her eyes off Angelus as she looks at me, Angelus takes this momentary lapse and quickly bends down, picks Gage up and throws him at us knocking all of us to the ground.

Angelus spits a few more times and leaves smiling as Buffy and I get to our feet and watch him go, Gage gets up also and rubs his neck “Oh. Was that the thing that killed Cameron?” Gage asks aloud.

“No. That was something else” Buffy whispers as I rub her back comfortingly “S-something else?” Gage stutters looking very confused “Yeah. Unfortunately, we have a lot of something elses in this town. Good night” I tell Gage linking arms with Buffy as we start to walk away.

“Hey!” Gage shouts to us and we turn back to look at him as he walks over to us with a nervous laugh “Walk me home?” I laugh at his change of tune not even 5 minutes ago he was practically calling my sister crazy now he wants us to babysit him, Buffy nods and motions for him to follow.

“If you need me to hold your hand just let me know” I whisper to him sarcastically as he still breathes heavily from fright, Gage just looks over to me smiling thankfully and grabs my hand making my eyes widen “I was being sarcastic” I told but he just ignores me and holds on tighter.

* * *

 

Next day at school Buffy insisted that we all go to the pool and stakeout the swim team just in case the monster strikes at school, so I'm sat with Buffy, Cordelia and Willow watching the guys swim.

Six members of the swim team are on the starting blocks “Swimmers! Take position!” Coach Marin shouts out loudly, they all bend down and coach blows his whistle, and they all dive in swimming as soon as they hit the water.

In the middle of the pool, I notice Gage stops, stands up and lifts off his goggles “Keep the stroking up. Alright. Keep it going, keep it going all the way to the end. All the way to the end. Breathe deep” Coach Marin shouts to all the team as they swim.

Gage sees us in the stands and waves as coach blows his whistle, I wave back to Gage discreetly but Willow notices and gives me a smile, I quickly put my hand down and pretend that I hadn't waved to him.

“Gage! You with us or not?” Coach shouts to Gage who was still looking over to us, Gage just smiles and swims off “C'mon, let's go!” Coach Marin shouts again as the team does another length in the pool.

Cordelia leans over to us “So he spit it out? I thought Angel liked blood” she whispers as Buffy shrugs “He used to” Willow looks at us thoughtfully “Maybe his eyes were too big for his stomach,” She says with a small laugh in a way only Willow can without sounding mean.

“Or maybe there was something in Gage's blood that Angel didn't like. Say, for example, steroids.” Buffy theorizes as we all look back at the swims team as they glide through the water “That would explain all their behavioral changes” Willow adds as we remember how temperamental the team has become lately.

“And their winning streak” Cordelia muses and I nod this school hasn't won any championships in years “So maybe whatever is in their blood is what's attracting this creature to them,” I say to them as they all nod in agreement with me.

“Any luck researching our fish monster?” Buffy asks the girls but they both shake their heads “Zippo. We couldn't find any sea demon that matched the description that Xander gave, Not that Chicken Little's much of a witness, but...” Cordelia's eye is caught “Oh”.

We all looked at Cordelia confused “Oh! Oh, my! Now, that, girls, is my kind of...” Willow, Buffy and I turned to see who Cordelia was staring at “Xander?” We all shout in shock seeing our friend stood dripping wet in speedos.

“Xander?!” Cordelia shouts out in shock when she finally realizes the guy she'd be drooling over was Alexander Harris when Xander hears our voices he scrambles over to a pile of kickboards grabbing the one off the top and hides behind it.

We come down from the stands as Xander scrambles over to us “What the hell are you doing here?” Cordelia shouts at him when Xander puts his hand up to shush her “Shh! I'm undercover” he tells us looking around in case anyone had heard him.

“Not under much” Buffy jokes with a grin as Xander just looks up at her his eyes happy but doesn't say anything “Get out of here before someone sees you impersonating a member of the swim team!” Cordelia shoos him away but Xander doesn't move.

“I don't do impersonations. I tried out for the team last night. I made it” Xander informs Cordelia who looks at him surprised “Really?” Xander's cool meter must have gone up a few notches in Cordelia's book.

“Yeah. I figured I can keep an eye on Gage and the others when Buffy and Nikki can't” Xander says quietly as he nods to Buffy and I “When you're nude?” Willow asks wide-eyed until I nudge her “I-I meant to say 'changing'”.

“Harris! You can flirt on your own time!” Coach Marin shouts from behind us as Xander looks at him nervously “Okey-dokey, coachie” He backs away and goes to join the rest of the team, covering his butt with his free hand.

“I'm dating a swimmer from the Sunnydale swim team!” Cordelia tells us proudly “You can die happy” Buffy jokes as we watch as Xander gets up on a starting block “What about Jonathon? Is he involved?” I asked Willow who shakes her head “Oh, no. He just... sort of... peed in the pool”.

I nod not really thinking about it “Oh” I look back at Xander to watch as he dives in, we all look on in wide-eyed shock as we realize what he just dove into “Oh!”.

After practice, Buffy and I go and wait outside of the locker room for Xander and Gage to come out, a moment later Xander comes out with a towel over his head, rubbing his hair dry “You gotta love this undercover deal. Twenty minutes in a hot room with a bunch of sweaty guys...”.

I frown at Xander's words “Where's Gage?” I ask him impatiently “I don't know. He was right behind me, putting his sneakers on but it's not the Velcro kind, so give him a couple of extra minutes” Xander tells us tapping both of our shoulders as he walks by “Tag. You're it”.

I sigh as Buffy gives me a look, suddenly I hear a scream come from the locker room “OH, MY GOD!” I waste no time running into the locker room looking for Gage.

“Help me! Help me! Ah! Help me!” Gage screams again just as we get to him, I push him away from the monster and he falls to the ground, I get into a defensive stance but the monster just stands there and doesn't move to attack us.

I spin around hearing Gage's agony filled screams and I see him writhe on the floor in pain “Gage?” I say concerned as Buffy moves forward to stand next to me, Gage reaches out to us for help but can't get up and continues to convulse.

I take a step closer but stop when Buffy grabs my arm and pulls me back as she stares at him in shock, I watch as he gets to his knees and pulls open his shirt grabbing at his chest and begins to tear open his skin.

Beneath his skin is the chest of another monster, Gage holds up his hand and watches as the skin tears along the back and a green, clawed hand emerges “Oh my god, Gage” I whispered sadly.

I took a quick look at the other monster, but it's not advancing, so I turn back to Gage and watched dumbfounded as the monster that was Gage now stands up, and what's left of Gage's clothes and skin fall away from him.

Buffy and I stare up at it in horror backing away as it roars and advances on us taking a swipe at us with its sharp claws, the first monster advances on us from behind now and we suddenly find ourselves trapped between them.

“I'll take Gage, you take... whoever that is” I whisper to Buffy who nods and turns into a roundhouse kick to the one behind us as I jump up with a high kick knocking Gage to the floor.

Grabbing a mop leaning against the wall I thrust it at Gage as he gets up, I spin around with it to hit the first one in the face, knocking it down and then jab Gage in the side.

Gage is momentarily stunned, and Buffy follows up with a kick to its chest, making him fall to the floor, the first creature is back up, grabs Buffy from behind, turns her around and sinks its sharp teeth deeply into her arm making her scream out in pain.

The monster shoves her into me making us both fall back into a bank of lockers and then to the floor, Coach Marin suddenly appears and quickly helps us both up to our feet but the two monsters give up the fight and launch themselves across the floor and slide one after the other into the open grate.

Coach Marin takes Buffy to the nurse's office and I run to get Giles from the library telling him about the swim team being monsters along the way “So the monsters are inside the boys” Giles gathers as we reach the nurse's office “Yeah not sure why though” I tell him as I push open the door as Nurse Greenleigh finishes bandaging Buffy's arm.

“I don't think that this is going to need stitches, but you might wanna have your family physician take a look at it,” Nurse Greenleigh tells Buffy as she walks off “How are you?” Giles asks making Buffy looking down at her bandage “I'm definitely feeling the burn”.

Giles turns to Coach Marin who walks up behind us “Well, the, uh, good news is that it would appear that none of your team actually died” Giles starts telling him “But the bad news is... they're monsters” I finish looking at Coach who doesn't seem so upset.

“How could this happen?” Coach asks Giles who looks at Coach in shock and anger “Are you saying you don't know?” Coach looks down at Giles' words but his face still doesn't seem like you would expect from a man who just found out his swim team was turning into monsters.

“Well, you work so hard, you start to win suddenly, you think it's just you. You're inspiring the boys to greatness but in the back of your mind, you start to wonder” Coach narrates to us “You never asked any of the boys if they were taking anything?” Giles angrily whispers to him.

Coach Marin just looks up at Giles his face serious “Maybe I was afraid to” Buffy, Giles and I exchange a look we need to figure out what is turning these boys into monsters and we need to do it before more of the swim team start pulling their own flesh off.

* * *

  
Sitting in the computer lab with Xander, Buffy, Willow we all crowd around Willow's desk as she surfs through the school medical files “There” Buffy says as she points to the screen.

“Dodd McAlvy: torn tendon. Gage Petronzi: fractured wrist, depression, headaches” Willow reads off the screen “It's all there in the school medical records” Buffy sighs in recognition.

“All symptomatic of steroid abuse” Willow muses as we all look from the screen “But is steroid abuse usually linked with, 'hey, I'm a fish'?” Xander asks us with humor in his voice.

“There must be something else in the mix. But the point is, these boys were obviously drugged” Willow tells us as I look at the screen again with a sigh “And Nurse Greenleigh treated every one of them. She must have known”.

“If steroids are that dangerous, why would they do that to themselves?” Willow questions looking up at us from her chair “They needed to win and winning equals trophies, which equals prestige for the school. You see how they're treated.” I say aloud the swim team was like royalty.

“Sure. The discus throwers got the best seats at all the crucifixions” We all roll our eyes at Xander but ignore him “Meanwhile, I'm breaking my nails every day battling the forces of evil, and my French teacher can't even remember my name” Buffy mutters as I smirk at her “She would if you actually showed up”.

“So what's the drill? Get Nurse Greenleigh?” Xander asks us as Willow stands up sternly “Let's throw the book at her!” she yells furiously as I put my hand on her shoulder.

“She probably went home for the day. I think it can wait. Xander, why don't you see if you can find out what these boys are taking, or at least how they're taking it? Powders, pills, syringe?” I say as Xander nods “I'm Lookin'-Around Guy”.

“What about you?” Willow asks looking worried “Giles loaded up the tranquilizer gun. We're going fishing” Buffy answered as she looked over to me “You're quiet” she noted as I looked up a gave a small smile “I'll just man the fort see if I can find anything else on the steroids and our fishy friends”.

Buffy nodded as everyone left to their own devices “So what's the deal?” Buffy questioned sitting down next to me “What are you talking about?” I said with a laugh but Buffy didn't join in “it's nothing” I mumbled to her.

“Is it about Gage, you seemed upset when he well...” Buffy started and put her hand on mine as a I let out a heavy sigh “I mean he's been flirting with me since I came here” I started as Buffy laughed “Along with the rest of the male population”.

Rolling my eyes at my sister I carried on “I know he was a jerk but he was funny and sweet when he wasn't with his band of jocks” I admitted knowing Gage was one of two guys I had considered dating.

“And now he's gone” I gritted my teeth feeling a little pathetic “Well we live in a place where the guys are either monsters, vampires or total dorks” Buffy acknowledged as I let out a laugh “So true” Buffy wrapped her arm around me “I'm sorry he's gone but we can focus on catching whoever did this to him”.

I nodded with a new focus I couldn't bring Gage back and I couldn't lose the guilt I felt about not saving him or the others but I can always do what I do best, kicking ass and taking names.

* * *

 

After Xander runs back into the library with the others saying that the steroids were in the steam that the swim team sits in, Buffy had gone to talk to the coach, if it was in the steam he had to know about it.

Willow, Cordy, and Xander had gone to speak to the nurse and round up the others in the swim team in case any of them feel the urge to start shedding their skin.

Watching Giles usher the swim team into his cage I felt another pang when I remembered _he_ wouldn't be with them “Everyone's accounted for except Sean” Willow says as she comes back into the library as Xander and Cordelia run in behind her “I think we can safely say we've found Sean. He was in the pool skinless-dipping”.

Xander looks at me confused “Where's Buffy?” I frown when I realized something “She hasn't come back yet” leaving the library to find my sister I walk to the pool knowing that's where Coach usually hung out.

I looked around the pool carefully in case Sean was hiding out getting ready to attack or eat me, I noticed Coach was in the equipment room standing over a hole.

“What's up Coach,” I say as he jumps looking at me startled “Oh! Summers. Uh...” he chuckles nervously as I look around “Where's Buffy?”.

I notice the coach's eyes focus on a gun laying on a barrel just beside me, Coach makes a grab for his gun but I seize his arm and hit it into the barrel making him drop the gun.

Sending an elbow to Coaches face he falls over unconscious “Idiot” I seethed stepping over to the hole and looking down to see my sister fighting with the monsters “Buffy, hurry! Your hand!”.

Buffy looks up and crouches down into the water and leaps up to grab my hand “Hold on!” I instructed as I began to pull her up “Pull!” Buffy screams at me as I hear the monsters begin to shriek angrily.

Pulling Buffy up further she climbs out of the hole and drops to the floor, coughing and panting “Thanks” she said sliding herself against the lockers regaining her senses “Now what kind of sister would I be if I let you become tuna?”.

“Nikki” Buffy shouts and I turned to see coach has regained consciousness and is carrying pipe wrench, he starts to take a swing at me with it but I put my leg out and trip him making him roll into the hole.

Leaping forward I grab his ankle before he falls in “Don't let go! Don't let go of me! Hold me!” Coach screams but just before Buffy can help me pull him up he falls down into the water below.

Coach stands up in the water, shaking it out of his face and coughing, Buffy reaches down to him “Grab my hand!” but he was too busy being worried about his sea monsters surrounding him to listen to what Buffy is saying.

“Boys! Boys, uh, now, now, boys! No! I...” Coach tries to talk to them but they all jump on him “No, boys!” he screams and struggles as they pull him under, Buffy pulls her arm back up _“Those boys really love their coach”._

* * *

 

Sitting in the school lounge with Willow, Buffy, Xander, and Cordelia we were talking about the monsters and yet again Xander was complaining about something “Let's see. I gotta take a make-up chem test at three and then I'm meetin' some of the guys for plasma transfusions at five. It's turned into quite the busy afternoon”.

“The fun never stops with you, does it?” Buffy replies sarcastically as we all smile “Giles seems pretty confident that the treatments are gonna work” Willow tells us as she munches on her popcorn as Xander nods seriously “Well, turning into a creepy-crawly wasn't on my top ten list of things to do before I turn twenty”

“Don't worry Xand I'm sure there will be a lot more things you'll turn into or we'll have to fight before then, I mean twenty is such a long time away” I laugh as Xander turns to glare at me “It's always me” he pouts putting his foot up on the table.

Cordelia turns to Xander “I want you to know that you've really proven yourself to me. And you don't have to join the new team next year if you don't want. I'd be just as happy if you played football”.

Buffy, Willow and I exchange an amused look as Giles comes up the steps to us “The... people from animal control have just left. Our creatures have apparently made a, a dash for it. Um... so to speak” he says keeping his voice low.

Willow look put out “Does that mean we're gonna have to hunt them again?” we all look at Giles before Buffy talks "No, I don't think so. I don't think we'll be seeing them anymore”.

“Where do you think they'll go?” I ask my sister as my mind once again goes back to Gage wondering what he'll do now as a monster, Buffy gives a small smile and puts her hand on mine comfortingly “Home”.

 

* * *

**Only 2 more chapters to go in this book, so if you have any last minute questions get them in now.**

**Also I made a trailer for this story and it's on youtube just search Nikki Summers BTVS and it's one of the first on the list.**

**Let me know what you think :D**


	40. Becoming, Part 1

**Word count: 4672 (Only part 1)**

**Warnings: Death of a character, Attack and Abduction.**

**††††††**

 

Angelus walks through the cemetery carefully and quietly while watching Buffy fight a pair of vampires nearby. He sees her kick one and then the other, and then continues on to a better vantage point. One of the vampires rushes Buffy, and she flips him over onto his back “Nice try”.

The other one comes at her again with a swing she ducks it and punches him in the face, in the gut and again in the face. He falls to the ground, dazed. The first one comes at her again with a kick, but she blocks it with her arm, backhand punches him in the face, jabs him in the gut and grabs his arm, twisting it up high and forcing him to his knees in pain.

Angelus looks on from behind a tree and smiles the second vampire gets back up and rushes her. Without letting go of the first one she cleanly jams her stake into the other one's chest, and he crumbles to ashes.

Angelus can't help but snicker, Buffy turns her attention back to the one she's holding and punches him in the face, making him roll away “I want you to get a message to Angel for me. Tell him I'm done waiting. I'm taking the fight to him” Angelus smiles as he listens.

“You got that? Need me to write it down for you?” The vampire gets up and charges her. She grabs him and pulls him around and down to the ground, and immediately plunges her stake home. He bursts into ashes “Alright, I'll tell him myself”

She gets up and walks over behind a gravestone, where she reaches down to help Xander up “I'm good. Don't worry about me” Xander groans as he rubs his neck “You know, you don't have to patrol with me” Buffy tells him with a smile but he just waves her off.

I had that guy under control until he resorted to fisticuffs” Xander says as he indicates the pile of ash and cranes his neck “Oh! What is that, um... five vampires in three nights?” Buffy nods and looks around “Yep. But no Angel”.

“Are you, uh, really that anxious to come up against him?” Xander questions Buffy who looks at her friend seriously “I want it over with, all walking around on eggshells, the mind games with Nikki”.

Xander nods in understanding “I hear that” they both stood in silence for a while before Buffy exhales “Oh, we better go. I haven't even started studying for finals yet” Xander groans too as he joins her walking out the cemetery “Oh, yeah, finals! Why didn't you let me die?”.

Buffy smiles at him and nudges his shoulder “Ah, look on the bright side. It'll all be over soon” They leave the cemetery under the watchful eyes of Angelus “Yes, my love. _It will_ ” he smirks and turns to leave the other way, thinking about his plan.

* * *

 

Sitting in the cafeteria with the gang we watch as Xander tells a dramatic tale using two fish sticks, one with a toothpick stuck in the middle “Tell Angel I'm gonna kill him! No, wait. I'm gonna kill you!” He starts to repeatedly stab the toothpick into the other fish stick.

“Die! Die! Die!” Xander makes an anguished face and lets the fish stick fall “Aah!” he makes a thudding noise and then smiles at us “Is that it?” Cordelia questions as Willow, Oz, Buffy and I sat on the opposite side of the table wondering about Xander's mentality “scene”.

“That's exactly how it happened” Buffy agreed jokingly “Well, I thought it was riveting. Uh, I was a little unclear about some of the themes” Oz chimes in with that monotone humor of his.

“The theme is Angel's too much of a coward to take me on face-to-face” Buffy explains to Oz as Xander carries on playing with the fish sticks “And the other theme was 'Buy American', but it, uh, got kind of buried”.

“Do you think you're ready to fight Angel?” Willow turns to ask Buffy and me “I wish people would stop asking me that. Yes, I'm ready. I'm also willing and able. Just the one test I might actually pass” Buffy pouts as I pat her arm.

“Don't say that! You're gonna pass everything. I will get you two through this semester if I have to sweat blood” I laugh as Willow seriousness but it would take a miracle to get us back on good grades, we were always busy slaying to study.

“Do you think you're likely to? 'Cause I'd like to be elsewhere” Xander jokes “It was only metaphor blood” Willow smirks as Oz nudges Willow “I think you'd sweat cute blood” I roll my eyes but my smile never leaves.

“Sixth period, after my computer class, we'll rock on chemistry and tomorrow Nikki we can work on Math” Buffy I nodded quickly “Ready to rock” Cordelia smiled at Willow kindly “Boy, Willow, you've really got the teaching bug: taking over computer class, tutoring...”

Willow smiles widely “I love it. I really do” Cordelia looks at Willow seriously, “I think it's great to do that before you go out and fail in the real world. That way you're not falling back on something. You're falling... well, forward”.

Xander rolls his eyes “And almost sixty-five percent of that was an actual compliment. Is that a personal best?” Cordelia looks at Xander expressionless “Gee, Xander, what are you gonna teach when you fail in life? Advanced loser-being?”

“I will teach... zee Language of Love!” Xander says with a French accent as he reaches for Cordy who squeals “Don't touch me! You have fish hands!” I notice Snyder comes into the cafeteria looking annoyed as always.

Xander and Cordelia continue to mess around before Snyder stomps over to us “That's enough of that. And you! Are we having a chair shortage?” he shouts looking over at Willow who looks confused “I didn't read anything about... Oh” she slides off of Oz's lap and into her chair “I get it”.

“These public displays of affection are not acceptable in my school. This isn't an orgy, people. It's a classroom” I raise my eyebrows at Snyder and couldn't help but want to annoy him“Yeah! Where they teach lunch”.

Snyder glares at me “Just give me a reason to kick you out, Summers. Just give me a reason” I roll my eyes as he walks off “How about because you're a tiny, impotent Nazi with a bug up his butt the size of an emu?” Cordelia says sarcastically making me smile “Sums it up”.

“Don't you think?” Cordy nods looking happy I agreed with her “Do you wanna come to my house tonight and study, too? Willow asks looking at the two of us “Maybe. I-I do have to patrol” Buffy explains “Although I have offered to do it” I mumbled eating a chip.

“Again? Do you really expect Angel to turn up tonight?” Willow questions looking like she didn't want to upset Buffy “No, I don't expect him to. But that's usually when he does”

* * *

 

I was sat in the library with Giles practicing my powers when Willow and Buffy walked in looking solemn and holding a piece of paper “What are you saying?” Giles stuttered when the Buffy told him about what they had found.

“The curse, this is it” Buffy explains as she passes the printout to Giles “Looks like Ms. Calendar was trying to replicate the original curse. To restore Angel's soul again” Willow said as I looked at the paper in Giles' hand.

“She said it couldn't be done” Giles whispered staring at the paper “Well, she tried anyway. And it looks like it might have worked” Buffy told us softly “So he killed her... before she could tell anyone about it. What a prince, huh?” Xander scoffs looking away.

“This is good, right? I mean, we can curse him again” Cordelia asks sounding hopeful “Um, well, this, um... certainly points the way, but... the ritual itself requires a greater knowledge of the black arts than I, I, I can claim,” Giles tells her stuttering a little.

“Well, I've been going through her files and, and researching the black arts, for fun, or educational fun, and I may be able to work this” Willow argues softly as Giles looks at her very concerned “W-Willow... channeling... such potent magicks through yourself, it could open a door that you may not be able to close”.

“I don't want you putting yourself in any danger, Will” I objected crossing my arms over my chest “And I don't want danger. Big 'no' to danger, but I may be the best person to do this” Willow mutters seriously.

“Hi! For those of you who have just tuned in, everyone here is a crazy person. So this spell might restore Angel's humanity? Well, here's an interesting angle. Who cares?” Xander spits harshly.

“I care” Buffy whispers looking up “Is that right” Xander affirms not surprised “Let's not lose our perspective here, Xander,” Giles says as Willow looks at Xander, disbelieving what she's hearing from him.

“I'm Perspective Guy. Angel's a killer” Xander retorts standing his ground “Xander...” Willow whispers in disbelief “It's not that simple” Buffy tells him sounding meek “What? All is forgiven? I can't believe you people!” Xander shouts disgusted.

“Xander has a point” Cordelia admits standing behind Xander who turns to her raising his voice “You know, just for once, I wish you'd support me, and I realize right now that you were, and I'm embarrassed, so I'm gonna get back to the point” Xander looks serious again “which is that Angel needs to die”.

“Curing Angel seems to have been Jenny's last wish,” Giles says aloud “Yeah? Well, Jenny's dead” Xander argues as Giles approaches Xander angrily “Don't you ever speak of her in that tone again!”.

“Can't you hear what I'm saying?” Xander yells back and we all begin to argue heatedly, Buffy rushes over and gets between Xander and Giles “Stop it! Stop it!” she screams as we all shut up and glare at each other for a moment.

Buffy turns away and goes over to Willow looking very upset “What do you wanna do?” Willow whispers to my sister who sighs quietly “I-I don't know. What happened to Angel wasn't his fault”.

“Yeah, but what happened to Ms. Calendar is” Xander argues again as Buffy and Willow stare at him in disbelief “You can paint this any way you want. But the way I see it is that you wanna forget all about Ms. Calendar's murder so you can get your boyfriend back”.

Buffy shakes her head at Xander's words before turning to me “What do you think” she whispers rubbing her arms “I don't think you want to know what I'm thinking B” I told her and watched her face crumple a little “tell me”.

I sighed and looked at my sisters eyes which were identical to my own “it may be true that it wasn't Angel's fault about him losing his soul but he still murdered Ms. Calendar in cold blood, he needs to be put down before one of us ends up in a body bag” give a heavy sigh I looked up at my sisters face.

“Would you be okay.. looking at the face of our friends killer every day just because he regained his soul, I don't think I could ever be okay with that” I admit as Buffy sighs and turns to walk out of the library.

I turned to look at Giles who lay a hand on my shoulder but said nothing, he knew I had said the right thing but none of us needed to say anything right now. All we had to do was focus on Buffy's decision.

An hour later Buffy marches back in with Kendra following behind her “Kendra?” I asked as the dark-skinned Slayer smiled at me whilst Buffy walked over to Giles “Nikki, nice ta see you again” Kendra said as I gave her a grin.

Giles comes out of his office into the main room with Buffy “I've been on the phone to the museum. The artifact in question is missing, and the curator has been murdered. Vampires” he explains leaning on the table.

“And you're sure this was the tomb of Alfalfa?” Buffy asks making Giles sigh “Acathla. And yes, the information provided by Kendra's Watcher seems conclusive” Giles straightens back up as Willow walks out from behind the counter.

“Okay, somebody explains the whole 'he will suck the world into Hell' thing because that's the part I'm not loving,” Willow says looking scared as I pat her back comfortingly, Giles sits on the edge of his table and put his glasses back on.

“Well, the, uh, the Demon Universe exists in a dimension separate from our own. With one breath, Acathla will create a vortex, a-a kind of, um... whirlpool that will pull everything on Earth into that dimension, where any non-demon life will suffer horrible and... eternal torment” He explains as we all look on.

“Demons as in everything without a soul, vampires, monsters etc” I guess as Giles nods at me “So that would be the literal kind of 'sucked into Hell'” Buffy smiles nervously “Neat” she frowns and turns to Willow “Willow, I think you should try the curse”.

Kendra looks over at me as I stand up shocked “I tend to side with your friend Xander and Nikki on this one. Angel should be eliminated” Buffy nods stoically “Oh, I'll fight him. I'll kill him if I have to but if I don't get there in time, or if I lose, then Willow might be our only hope”.

Willow gasps taken aback “I don't wanna be our only hope! Uh, I crumble under pressure! Let's have another hope” Willow pleads as Kendra pulls a sword out of her bag We have. Blessed by the knight who first slew the demon. If all else fails, this might stop it. I tink”.

Giles looks at the sword intrigued “Ooh. May I? May I? Well, l-let's, uh, hope all else doesn't fail” he says giving Kendra a nod before turning to Willow “Um, how close are you to f-figuring out the ritual of the curse?”.

Willow goes to her backpack “I need about a day, and... an 'Orb of Thesulah'? Whatever that is” she says as reads from a piece of paper, Giles hands the sword back to Kendra “Spirit vault for rituals of the undead. I've got one. I-I've been using it as a... paperweight” he says heading into this office sounding embarrassed.

“This means I can't help you study for tomorrow's final” Willow frowns looking at Buffy and me sympathetically “Ah, I'll wing it. Of course, if we go to Hell by then, I won't have to take 'em” I nod in agreement with Buffy before looking at her seriously “Or maybe we'll be taking them forever”.

Giles comes back with the Orb “Angel has a ritual of his own to perform before he can remove the sword and awaken Acathla. With any luck, it should take some time” Buffy stares at the Orb in determination as Giles hands it to Willow.

* * *

 

In the main hall of Angelus' mansion, he holds onto the sword stuck in the stone tightly, trying to draw it out of Acathla. It won't budge, and a moment later a bright red flame bursts from the sword, throwing Angelus back and onto the floor.

“Someone wasn't worthy” Spike laughed in a sing-song voice as Angelus scrambles to his feet “Damn it!” Drusilla starts to freak out “This is so... disappointing!” she moans as Angelus paces angrily “There must be something I missed. The incantations, the blood... I don't know!”.

Spike tries hard to suppress a snicker, hiding his mouth with his hand “What are we going to do?” Drusilla whines like a child as Angelus looks up at her menacingly “What we always do in a time of trouble: turn to an old friend”.

Hope returns to Drusilla's eyes as she gives a devious grin as Angelus smirks viciously “We'll have our Armageddon. I swear!” Angelus grabs a vase from a shelf and heaves it at the far wall, smashing it into hundreds of tiny pieces.

 

* * *

 

Standing next to the door to our class I waited for everyone to file in before grabbing Buffy's arm, she hadn't really spoken to me since yesterday “Listen I'm sorry if I upset you about Angel” I told her as she looked down.

“I'm not upset with you, I'm upset that you're right” Buffy admitted looking up at me her face serious “I'm here for you, you know that right?” I told her watching as her face brightened as we walked into class together.

Sitting in my seat next to Buffy I huffed when the final exam sheets were passed out, looking over to Buffy I noticed she looked nervous, giving her a small reassuring wink I opened my paper and got to work.

“Tonight... Sundown...” A creepy voice called out as everyone looks up “At the graveyard...” I looked at the vampire in front of me, Ms. Gervitz gets up “Excuse me...”

Exposed now to the daylight, the vampire begins to smoke “You will come to him” the vampire takes the shawl off “You will come to him or more will die” she points at Buffy and ignites.

I glare at the vampire taken aback by the vampire's direct approach to delivering a message to my sister, this message came from Angelus “Tonight!” The other students scream, jump out of their chairs and begin to run from the room.

Getting up from my chair threateningly and the vampire takes a wary step back but her eyes return to my sister's frozen form “His hour is at hand!” She combusts in a flash of flame and smoke “Buffy?” I whisper as she just stares at the now empty space before us.

Shaking herself from her shock Buffy marches all of us to the library where Giles sat in shock as Buffy ranted about what just happened “She said more would die. I have to go” Buffy tells us as Kendra stands “Den I should go wit you”.

Buffy faces Kendra “No. I need you here just in case” I cross my arms and looked at my sister stubbornly “then I'm going instead” Buffy rubbed my arms “I can't take you knowing what he's like when you're around, I told you before I won't let you become apart of his games”.

Sighing I nodded my head and sat down defeated “Plus I can take care of myself and look as long as Angel's fighting me, then he can't do this end-of-the-world ritual thingy, and that's a good”.

Buffy stands by the front of the table “Will, what do you think?” Willow looks over her research “I just want to cross-check...” Buffy looks at Willow sharply “We don't have time. If this is gonna work, it has to work now”.

“Okay. Then I need maybe half an hour once we're all set up” Willow says as Giles throws down a book to Xander “Which means you just have to hold Angel off. Don't let him close on you. If the curse succeeds, you'll, you'll know”.

Xander looks over the book and hands it to Willow “Why don't you just wait here to find out if it worked, see if he phones you?” Cordelia suggests looking worried “I can't risk him killing any more people. I better go” Buffy answers “Be careful” Xander says and Buffy gives him a nod “I will”.

“Here...” Kendra calls as she grabs a stake from the table and runs over to Buffy holding up the twisted but very sharp stake “In case de curse does not succeed, dis is my lucky stake. I have killed many vampires wit it. I call it Mr. Pointy”.

“You named your stake?” Buffy asks flabbergasted as Kendra nods a little embarrassed “Remind me to get you a stuffed animal” Buffy accepts the stake from Kendra and looks it over “Thanks” Kendra exhales deeply “Watch your back” Buffy nods seriously and leaves the library.

Holding Willow's hand I help her get on top of the table and she sits cross-legged, the Orb of Thesulah within a sacred circle and surrounded by candles, bones, and stones sits in front of her. Willow casts some stones and then gives Giles a nod.

Giles opens a book and reads the Latin text “Quod perditum est, invenietur” Cordelia swirls incense into the air “Not dead nor not of the living. Spirits of the interregnum I call...” Willow chants as I stand back and look on feeling uneasy “Let him know the pain of humanity, gods. Reach your wizened hands to me. Give me the sword...”

Suddenly a vampire comes out from the stacks and attacks Xander from behind as the main doors fly open and Kendra spins around to defend as two more vampires walk in. Giles points to the steps and yells at the Willow and Cordelia as a fourth vampire appears from the stacks “Get out! Go!”.

Willow and Cordelia make for the stair as I jump over the kick the vampire in front of me swings “GO!” I shouted to my friends as the vampires snarled at them, punching down one of the vampires I groan when I'm shoved into a bookcase.

Hearing a crunch I turn to see Xander holding his arm in pain “Xander!” I shout but I'm roughly lifted up and thrown again, ducking a roundhouse kick and blocking several swings, I kick the vampire and feel around my waist for a stake before realizing I didn't have one.

I look over the rail to see Giles pounding his assailant on the back, but he just roars and spins around with a punch to Giles' face, knocking him out “Giles!” I scream picking up a dazed vampire up and shoves him into the other one going at Cordelia, knocking him down.

Pushing Xander and Cordelia towards the back of the stacks I usher them out of the door, turning I watch as Kendra's opponent punches her in the face but Kendra ducks and backs into her and comes up holding back the vampire's head.

She plunges her stake into her heart, and she bursts into ashes “You good?” I called to Kendra before being tackled into another bookshelf wondering where the hell my sister was.

* * *

 

Buffy punches Angelus but he takes it in stride, she swings again, but he grabs her arm and holds on tight. She swings with the other one, but he grabs it, too, and then pushes her away “Jeez, is it me, or is your heart not in this?”.

Buffy pulls out Kendra's stake “Maybe I'll just go home, destroy the world” Angelus tormented “Well, I think Mr. Pointy'll have something to say about that. Come on. Let's finish this. You and me”.

Angelus chuckles in jest “Y-you never learn, do you? This wasn't about you. This was never about you” Angelus lets out another harsh laugh as Buffy realizes the trap was set for the others and begins to run.

Angelus smiles dangerously “And you fall for it every single time!” Buffy stops suddenly when he utters his next line maliciously “but don't worry _big sister_ I'll take care of her, I promise” Buffy lets out a small cry before setting her sights on Sunnydale High.

 

* * *

Up in the stacks I was now fighting against 3 vampires after I made Xander and Cordelia run, feeling a punch to the face I felt like I was in a game of pinball as I was tossed around being hit by each vamp.

Laying on the floor I heard the library doors open and my eyes sprung open seeing Drusilla casually walk in, jumping back up I through one of the vampires over the top of the railing before hitting the other two into each other.

Getting into a defensive stance I waited for the vampires to get back up but before any more fighting can ensue, Drusilla claps her hands “Enough” the vampires attack Kendra back off and slowly walk up the stacks and I realized I was largely outnumbered.

Kendra faces Drusilla and kicks at her but Drusilla blocks her easily she punches Kendra and sends her spinning to the floor, eyeing the vampires as they slowly closed in on me I tried to look at each one as they stalked my movements.

Suddenly as the vamps jumped on me like one big dog pile and held me as I watched Drusilla grabs Kendra by the throat and forces her back against the counter, gripping hard and choking her.

Punching one of the vampires I fought hard but each time I got free another one was there to pull me back in “Look at me, Dearie” Drusilla mumbled as she waved two extended fingers before Kendra's eyes and begins to hypnotize her “Be... in my eyes. Be... in me”.

“Don't do it, Kendra, don't look in her eyes” I shouted throwing my arm forward trying to do anything to get Drusilla away from Kendra but this was the exact time my powers decided not to work, knowing it was emotions getting the better of me I fought harder to get to Kendra.

Drusilla lets go of Kendra's throat and Kendra is completely under her spell she sways back and forth a bit, and Kendra follows her every move, Drusilla backs away slightly, lowering her arms and never losing eye contact.

“Kendra!” I shouted trying to break the hypnotism but nothing was working, Drusilla smiles up at me evilly as she swings her hand up and slices Kendra's neck with her sharp nails “No!” I scream as Kendra grabs her neck as it begins to bleed heavily, and collapses to the floor.

Drusilla watches her fall, and turns to look down at her “Night-night” She kisses the air above her and turns to her us “Let's get what we came for, dears and don't forget the birdie”.

Suddenly the air changes and the vampires turn to me hissing, backing away in a defensive stance I see two of them grab an unconscious Giles by the arms and drag him from the library.

Feeling myself being knocked to the floor I groan when a flurry of hit and kicks were sent to my body “Sweet dreams _Birdie_ ” I heard from Drusilla before a foot swung into my head.

* * *

 

Angelus grins deviously as his loyal minions brought the girl to his hideout, she looked like she had a rough beating but he knew that would be the least of her worries when he was through with her.

Spike rolled forward and watched as Angelus picked up the Slayer in his arms like she was some precious jewel but he knew differently if it were anyone else they'd think the look Angelus was giving her was sweet but Spike knew deep down that it was anything but sweet.

Spike knew that Angelus' obsession with the younger Slayer was his fault, he should have never told him what he had planned to do with her from the start but apart of him always wanted to please his sire.

However Spike couldn't help but see that his obsession with the girl wasn't just a game like he previously had thought, watching his Sire now he could see this was more than just getting even with Buffy but it wasn't love, it was possession.

“Hush now beautiful, I've got you now” Angelus grinned planting a kiss on the Slayers head as he carried her over to his bed and placing her down before putting her wrists into some restraints before injecting her with something to keep her from escaping “and I'm _never_ going to let you go”.

* * *

 

**So now Nikki is in Angelus grasp, the next chapter is darker than the rest but it serves a purpose, if you don't like reading sensitive things then maybe give the next chapter a miss.**

**The next chapter is the last one in the book other than the Q &A's which I have been collecting from all the sites I write on (here, Wattpad and Fanfiction net) so any last minute questions are still okay.**

 


	41. Becoming, Part 2

**Word count: 5964**

**Warnings: Torture, Sexual Assault, Triggering in general.**

**If you want to talk about the Sexual Assault part message me but please don't leave anything negative, people (myself included) have gone through these things and nasty words don't help.**

**††††††**

The hall outside the Emergency Room at Sunnydale General Hospital is quiet as Buffy slinks into the hall wearing a wool cap and a long, dark coat. She averts her eyes from the doctors and nurses hoping to be unseen.

On the wall, she finds a slot with a few patient histories and checks the names on them but none of them were the ones she was looking for, continuing slowly down the hall she checks another series of slots for names on paperwork but finds nothing.

Further down the hall she turns down the left passageway, feeling a hand on her back she gasps and spins around, but is very relieved to see Xander standing there “Xander!” she sighs as she hugs him tightly, he hugs her back, and they hold each other for a long moment, then Buffy lets go.

“I was so worried, I didn't know if you were okay. The cops were...” Buffy tried to explain but Xander cut her off “Yeah, I, I heard them chase you out. I was just coming out of it. Souvenir” he jokes as he holds up his arm in a cast.

“Well, what about the others?” Buffy asks desperately “Are they okay?” suddenly Xander pulls her in for another tight hug when the cops pass them “Okay. That was about equal parts protecting me and copping a feel, right?” Buffy jokes with a smile but Xander doesn't smile back, his face is down looking sad and very worried “What is it?”

Xander pulls Buffy into an adjacent room where Willow lay unconscious in a hospital bed, she has a bandaged cut on her forehead and a black eye, but otherwise seems unhurt “The doctor said it was head trauma. She can wake up at any time, but, um... the longer it lasts, the... less likely it is” Xander explains to Buffy whose eyes gazed over Willow's face sadly.

“I never should've let her try to do that curse. Angel must've known” Buffy said solemnly as she reaches up to Willow's face and brushes back a few stray hairs “Where are her parents?”.

Xander sighs and crosses his arms “With relatives in Phoenix. I gave them a call. They're... they're getting on a plane back” Buffy nods and look up at Xander “Does Oz know?”

Xander realizes his mistake “Oh, man. Um... I didn't even think. Um... I'll call him” Buffy hears some footsteps behind her and turns quickly as Cordelia walks in “Hey” Xander whispers giving her a loving kiss.

“How is she?” Cordelia asks as they separate looking down at Willow “The doctor told me that...” She starts as Xander interrupts her “Yeah. We're, uh... still waiting” Cordelia stood next to Willow's bed quietly “You okay?” Buffy asked her softly.

“I ran. I think I made it through three counties before I realized nobody was chasing me. Not too brave” Cordelia admitted looking sad “It was the right thing to do,” Buffy told her not wanting Cordelia to beat herself up.

“Did Giles keep up with you?” Cordelia looked over at Xander confused “I didn't see Giles” Buffy's eyes widened a little “You mean he's not in the hospital?” Xander shook his head “No”.

Buffy gives them a very concerned stare and felt her chest tighten considerably “and Nikki? Have you seen my sister?” Xander and Cordelia looked at each other guiltily remembering Nikki getting them out before shaking their heads.

* * *

 

Angelus lay on the floor of his mansion facing Giles who is also lying on the floor, waiting for him to regain consciousness “Mm...” Giles stirs a bit and exhales “Ohhh...” he groaned as he lifts his head.

“Hi, Rupert. I wasn't sure you were gonna wake up. You had me worried” Angelus grinned as he hops to his feet “What do you want?” Giles asks groggily “I wanna torture you. I used to love it, and it's been a long time. I mean, the last time I tortured somebody, they didn't even have chainsaws” Angelus smirks deviously.

He strolls past Giles over to Acathla, Giles turns to watch him and sees the stone demon with the sword protruding from its chest, Angelus notices Giles' stare “Oh, yeah. Acathla. He's an even harder guy to wake up than you are. I mean, I performed the rituals, said all the right phrases... blood on my hand. Got nothing. Big doughnut hole for my troubles”.

Turning back to Giles, Angelus shrugs “I figure you know the ritual. You're pretty up on these things. You could probably... tell me what I'm doing wrong but honestly, I sorta hope you don't... 'Cause I really wanna torture you”.

Giles stares up at the face Jenny's killer and opened his mouth to tell him off when he heard a familiar shout, Angelus looked a Giles with a smug look when the voice called out again “Buffy? Anyone?”.

“Nikki!” Giles called trying to run in her direction until Angel grabbed him “Giles? Help!” she called out again but Giles was no match for the old vampire who glared down at him threateningly “I'm sorry Rupert but  _she's mine_ ”.

* * *

 

Xander is sitting in a chair and watching Willow whilst Cordelia stands “Do you want some coffee?” Xander shakes his head with a sigh “I don't wanna leave. She might, uh...”.

Cordelia lays a hand on his shoulder “I'll get it” Xander looks up and places his hand over hers “Thanks” They clasp hands briefly, and Cordelia goes to get the coffee.

Xander looks at Willow again, deep in thought, he leans over to the bed and gently takes her hand in his “Come on, Will. Look, you don't have a choice here. You gotta wake up. I need you, Will. I mean, how am I gonna pass trig, you know? And who am I gonna call every night... and talk about everything we did all day? You're my best friend. You've always...”.

He looks at her for a long moment, looks away for an instant and then at her again, struggling with his emotions “I love you” Willow's face twitches and her hand gives his a squeeze, Xander's eyes widen in hope “Willow?” he calls softly.

Willow takes a few breaths before responding, with her eyes still closed “Oz?” she whispers before saying it louder, Xander leans away taken aback. Oz hears her as he walks into the room “I'm here” Xander looks back at Oz “She's just starting to wake up”.

Xander gets up to let Oz go to Willow, Oz takes her hand and leans over the bed but Willow still has her eyes closed “Hey, baby” Oz whispers and Willow smiles a little “Hi”.

Xander watches the two feeling something akin to hurt “I'm gonna go get a doctor” Oz nods but focuses on Willow “How you feelin'?” Willow groans “My head... feels big. Is it big?” she asks weakly and Oz gives a chuckle.

“No. It's head size” He leans over her face and gently kisses her on the forehead, he leans back to look at her and strokes her hair with his other hand. She opens her eyes tentatively “Uh... is everybody else okay?”.

* * *

 

Hearing Giles' screams for the past hour I felt the blood trickling down my arms from trying to get free from the restraints I had been put in, looking around I knew exactly who was doing this I just didn't know why.

“Angel!” I shouted knowing he could hear me “Get off of him!” I shrieked as I heard another cry come from Giles “Angelus!” hearing footsteps in front of the door I readied myself.

“You called, beautiful?” Angelus smirked from the doorway as he looked me up and down “leave him alone” I breathed from the amount of energy I was using trying to break my bonds “Oh but baby we're just having fun” Angelus grinned as walked his finger up my leg, over my hips and stopped at the skin showing “Don't worry, we'll have our fun next”.

Watching Angelus leave again I gritted my teeth “You touch him again and I'll break your fingers” I spat as Angelus turned to me with a smirk “Hmm, breaking fingers, good idea beautiful” I shook my head realizing what he was about to do “no please, he's done nothing to you”.

Hearing a few snaps tears starting running down my face, I knew what he had done to Giles, the idea I had just given him I might have well have gone out and done it myself “Giles, I'm sorry” I cried trying to free myself again.

Hours went by, my tears dried up and I was becoming almost deaf to Giles' screams, I felt myself becoming detached the more I realized there was nothing I could do, I was a Slayer and there was nothing I could do to help him.

“Hello, pretty Birdie” A voice came drawled and I looked up to see Drusilla swaying in the doorway “Drusilla” I spat remembering what she had done to Kendra, Drusilla giggled and crawled her way over me so our bodies were laid together “I can't wait for us to have fun together”.

I tried not to look at her knowing what she could do but she grabbed my chin forcing my eyes to meet hers “Be in my eyes” she whispered softly as I felt myself becoming lighter, her hand covered my eyes before she removed it and I saw Kendra.

“Kendra, I thought you were dead” I whispered as she smiled at me, Kendra stood up from the bed and turned away from me “This is your fault” she mumbled as I frowned “Kendra?” I questioned as she quickly turned back to me, her throat cut and pouring blood “You should have helped me”.

Tears began to run down my cheeks “I tried... I couldn't... I'm so sorry” I cried as Kendra glared at me and opened her mouth before she was cut off “Dru, what are you doing” I looked to the doorway to see Angel looking amused.

I let out a gasp as Kendra was gone and Drusilla was stood in her place “we were just playing” Drusilla giggled swaying again, I realized I had been tricked by Drusilla's hypnotism.

“Well, now it's my turn” Angelus grinned as Drusilla sashayed out of the room “Have fun” she called back cackling, Angelus turned back and his smile dropped into a look of fake concern “Oh baby, don't cry, Drusilla is the least of your problems”.

* * *

 

Buffy looks at her mother for a moment after she staked the vampire that had just attacked them on her own front lawn, she exchanges a look with Spike and realizes that it's time.

She steps up to her mom and looks up at her, hoping against hope for understanding “Mom... I'm a Vampire Slayer” Joyce just blinks her eyes, raises her brows and shakes her head in complete dismay.

With Buffy in the kitchen calling Willow, Joyce sits nervously on the couch with the with Spike sitting in an adjacent wicker chair as an uncomfortable silence reigns, Joyce has a spark of recognition on her face and looks over at Spike “Have we met?”

Spike faces her “Um... you hit me with an ax one time. Remember? Uh, 'get the hell away from my daughters'" he recites pretending to hold an ax in his hands “Oh” Joyce lets out a little chuckle as Spike sighs with boredom “So, do you, uh, live here in town?”.

Buffy walks into the room with her arms crossed and they both stand up “is Willow all right?” Joyce asks worriedly about the young redhead “Yeah. She's fine” Buffy says then turns to Spike “All right, talk. What's the deal?”

“Simple. You let me and Dru skip town, I help you kill Angel” Spike informs as Joyce gasps behind them “Angel? Your boyfriend?” Buffy ignores Joyce “Forget about Drusilla. She doesn't walk”.

“There's no deal without Dru” Spike laughs without humor “She killed Kendra,” Buffy told Spike crossing her arms “Dru bagged a Slayer? she didn't tell me! Hey, good for her!” Spike cheers until he gets a look from Buffy and loses his smile “Though not from your perspective, I suppose”.

Buffy looks at Spike with contempt “I can't believe I invited you into my house” Joyce looks at Buffy relieved “So you didn't kill that girl” Buffy looks at Joyce in shock “Of course not”.

“Did she explode like that man out there?” Joyce questioned looking confused as Buffy rolls her eyes “She was a Slayer, Mom” Joyce nods bewildered “Like what you are, and Nikki, god knows where she is” Buffy gives Joyce a sad smile and a nod.

Spike grits his teeth in annoyance “Look. This deal works for me one way. Full stop. Me and Dru for Angel” Joyce sighs still confused “Honey, a-are you sure you're a Vampire Slayer?”.

“I'll take her out of the country. You'll never hear from us again, I bloody well hope” Spike promises as they both ignore Joyce again “Fine. Get back to the mansion. Make sure Giles is all right and my..... uh” Buffy looks over at Joyce before turning to Spike “the  _Birdie_ ” she spat like the nickname disgusted her.

“I-I mean, have you tried not being a Slayer?” Joyce implores as Buffy and Spike look at her “Mom!” Spike sighs in exasperation of Joyce “Be ready to back me up when I make my move” Buffy instructs as Spike walks around her toward the door.

“If Giles or  _Birdie_  dies...” Spike stops and faces her “she dies” Spike gives her a final stare and heads out the door “It's because you didn't have a strong father figure, isn't it?” Joyce mutters trying to make sense of it.

“It's just fate, Mom. Your daughters are Slayers. Accept it” Buffy tells Joyce who nods and heads for the kitchen “We should call the police and we should find your sister” Buffy follows Joyce “No. We're not calling the police”

Joyce stops and faces Buffy smiling “Well, now that we know that you're innocent, it's...” Buffy stops her short “What? You thought I was guilty? Jeez, feelin' the love in this room!” Joyce shakes her head “No, I didn't think that, well honestly I thought it would be your sister in trouble with the police first, It's just... now we have proof”,

Buffy sighs exasperated “We have my word, Mom. Not proof” Joyce heads for the kitchen again “Look, I am sure that they will understand,” she says as Buffy follows closely “Get them involved, you'll get them killed.”

“Well, you're not gonna hurt them, are you?” Joyce questions not looking at Buffy “I'm a Slayer, not a postal worker” Joyce picks up the phone and Buffy slaps her hand on the switch.

“Cops can't fight demons. I have to do it” Buffy growls as she puts the phone back in its cradle “Do what? Buffy, what is happening?” Joyce demands but Buffy doesn't want to deal with it right now “Just have another drink”.

Buffy turns away from her mother and starts to walk off, Joyce throws her glass aside in anger and it breaks on the floor “Don't you talk to me that way! You don't get to just dump something like this on me and pretend it's nothing!”.

Buffy looks at Joyce carefully “I'm sorry, Mom, but I don't have time for this” Buffy stops when Joyce screams “No! I am tired of 'I don't have time' or-or 'you wouldn't understand.' I am your mother, and you will make time to explain yourself.

“I told you. I'm a Vampire Slayer” Buffy explained but Joyce laughs haughtily “Well, I just don't accept that!” Buffy steps closer finally had enough “Open your eyes, Mom. What do you think has been going on for the past two years? The fights, the weird occurrences”.

Joyce stays quiet as Buffy rants “How many times have things mysteriously broken or moved whenever Nikki gets angry, how many times have you washed blood out of our clothing, and you still haven't figured it out?”.

Joyce raises her voice angrily “Well, it stops now!” Buffy raises her voice also “No, it doesn't stop! It never stops! Do-do you think we chose to be like this? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? We would love to be upstairs watching TV or gossiping about boys or... God, even studying! But we have to save the world... again”.

“No. This is insane” Joyce takes Buffy by the shoulders “Buffy, you need help” Buffy throws off Joyce's arms “I'm not crazy! What I need is for you to chill. I have to go!” Joyce shakes her head “No. I am not letting you out of this house”.

“You can't stop me” Buffy argued as Joyce grabs her “Oh yes I...” Buffy shoves Joyce back into the island, making her knock over several things as she heads for the door, opens it and steps out.

Joyce looks at Buffy angrily “You walk out of this house, don't even think about coming back!” Buffy just gives her mother a long stare and walks away leaving the door open behind her.

* * *

 

I cried out as I felt another slice being cut into my skin and Angelus licked up the blood that dropped out “the annoying thing is, you'll be healed in a few hours and it won't leave a scar” Angelus droned out his lips still on my skin.

I felt the sting of each little cut he had made on my body but I knew he wasn't even started yet “Now, what is this?” He asks flicking the piece of jewelry connected to my belly button “Well, it's sexy I'll give you that but it's just in my way” Angelus tutted and my eyes widened as he grabbed the black metal and ripped it out of my skin.

Screaming I could hear Giles shouting for me, he was willing me to be strong “shh, beautiful, it'll all be over soon” Angelus whispered evilly as I shivered from shock, Angelus trailed the dagger he'd used to cut me with up and down my skin.

“If you're going to kill me just do it” I hissed as the dagger moved up my torso to where the hem of my top was “baby, I don't want to kill you” Angelus admitted as I looked up at him confused and tired “Oh no, I want to keep you forever”.

I frowned when I saw the crazy look in his eyes “Yeah well, you cant always have what you want” I growled clenching my fists as Angelus laughs mockingly “That's what Dru thought too, now look at her”.

I glared at Angelus “That's because you broke her, Buffy told me what you did but she'll protect our family and friends so I guess you're shit out of luck” I grinned as Angelus looked at me fuming until his face broke out in an evil grin.

Angelus slid the dagger under my top as my heart started to pound, he leaned in closer to my face “Princess there's more than one way to break a woman” lifting the knife up he tore through my shirt and I suddenly got the message.

“Don't you dare touch me” I shouted but my voice wobbled and Angelus smirked “I'm going to do a lot more than touch you beautiful” he promised as he climbed on top of me, knowing I had to fight this I started to squirm and move around.

“I love it when you fight me” Angelus whispered in my ear as he grabbed my hips and pushed them down stopping me from moving “then you're going to love this” I shouted as I through my head into his knocking him back.

“Bitch!” Angelus swore before grabbing my head and snarling as his face changed into his game face I winced as he grabbed my already formed bruises I knew I'd be covered with them by now, Angelus growled before sinking his teeth into my neck making me scream out as I felt my blood being drained.

Struggling against Angel I gasped when I felt his cold hand moving up my torso and underneath the black bra that was showing “Get off” I growled but I couldn't move from the lack of energy and blood I was losing.

Angelus smirked and moved to the end of the bed “Giles!” I cried out hoping that somehow he had gotten free “You're old man can't help you know, he's busy with Dru” Angelus laughed undoing a few buttons on his shirt.

“It's been a few months since I've had a virgin, in fact, she was your own sister so I'll try to be gentle” he assured but I could see he was lying through his teeth, Angelus climbed back on the bed and I mustered up all my stretch and used both of my legs to kick him.

I watched as he was sent through the door splintering the wood, laying my head back down on the pillow I felt too weak to try and escape again, feeling my resolve slip I knew there was no way out of this.

* * *

 

Buffy carefully sneaks into Angel's mansion and follows the sound of his voice with Xander following her, looking around a velvet curtain she frowned when she saw Angel come flying through a door and wondered if that was her sister's doing.

Noticing the vampire closest to her wasn't paying attention she raises her sword and decapitates him with a single swing, He crumbles to ash and his head falls to the floor as Angelus looks up to see her.

“Hello, lover” Buffy greets stoically as Angelus looks up at her bored “I don't have time for you” Buffy just glares at him finally ready “ You don't have a lot of time left” Angelus laughs evilly “Coming on kind of strong, don't you think? You're playing some deep odds here. Do you really think you can take us all on?” he spreads his arms gesturing to himself, Spike and Drusilla.

“No. I don't” Buffy admitted as Spike gets up out of his wheelchair behind Angelus with a determined look on his face and whips him hard across the back with an iron poker, Angelus cries out in pain and collapses to the floor.

Drusilla twists her head to look at Spike shocked as he continues to whale on Angelus as hard as he can, Buffy starts for Drusilla but the first vampire attacks her she spins around to face him, but he punches her and she falls to the floor.

She trips him when he comes at her again and maneuvers to her feet ready to fight, he comes at her again with a series of punches, all of which she easily blocks. Spike keeps pounding on Angelus “Painful, isn't it?”.

He keeps swinging the andiron until Drusilla begins to freak, and jumps on Spike, taking him down to the floor with her. Buffy's groans as the vampire backhand punches her in the face, and she goes staggering into a chair by the wall.

She quickly recovers to block another swing, bringing her knee up into his gut and kicks him in the face, knocking him to the floor. She spies a pile of broken wood fragments and goes to it, the vampire gets to his feet just as Xander comes into the room and surprises him with a punch.

Buffy picks up a suitable piece of scrap wood and gets back into the fight, the vampire ducks a roundhouse kick and blocks another kick. Spike and Drusilla get up from the floor and face each other off “I don't want to hurt you, baby” Spike says as they eye each other.

Drusilla grabs him by the throat and shoves him into the wall. He slaps her arm aside and punches her in the face “Doesn't mean I won't” Drusilla swipes at Spike with her hand and leaves four parallel scratches across his cheek.

She follows up with a punch that knocks him to the floor, Angelus wakes up and groans in pain he rubs his eyes and looks up at Acathla he gets to his feet and goes over to the demon and grabs the sword stuck in his chest by the hilt with his bloody hand.

A blindingly bright light emanates from it, and Buffy looks up from her kill in time to witness Angelus pulling the sword from the demon's heart, with a few telltale sparks the light is suddenly gone.

Angelus whips the sword around in his hand and holds it up to look at it, Buffy scrambles to get her own sword as Drusilla looks up from her fight and gazes at Acathla with a smile “Oh... Here he comes” Spike comes up behind her and grabs her by the throat with his arm, choking her.

Buffy holds up her sword and faces off with Angelus who holds his own “You almost made it, Buff” Angelus smirks as he looks at his former lover “It's not over yet” Buffy growls determined “My boy Acathla here is about to wake up. You're going to Hell”.

Buffy tightens her grip of the sword “Save me a seat” She thrusts at him with her sword, but he blocks and swings around with a thrust of his own, which she also blocks, they clash blades several times, and Buffy ducks a wide arcing swing from him.

They face off again and trade one thrust and block after another, Angelus tries another arcing swing from above, but she easily ducks and sidesteps out of the way.

They face off again in front of Acathla and trade a few more blows, Angelus tries a swing from above a third time, and again Buffy ducks it and escapes to the side, She jumps up on a low table and swings at him again.

Angelus parries, and swings at her legs but She jumps up and over his blade and lands on the floor, He tries for her legs again but she blocks his attempt with her blade.

Again they trade several swings, and Angelus tries a wide swing again, and this time cuts her superficially on the arm. He tries to take advantage of her distraction and comes at her with his sword held high, intending to swing from above, but she drops to the floor and rolls out of the way, so he only manages to smash a bowl on a table behind her.

Buffy kicks his legs out from under him and scrambles back up as he turns to face her still on his knees and swings three times in rapid succession, all of which she parries, he swings a fourth time and this time Buffy knocks his sword into the table with her parry and pins it there.

He backhand punches her in the face and she spins away, he pulls the sword from the table and swings it hard at her but she blocks it with hers, and kicks him in the gut, making him double over.

She jumps over him into the clear, and raises her sword to continue the fight, Angelus thrusts, and she blocks, then he kicks her in her sword arm, and she stumbles back a step and hits the ground.

Buffy scrambles back to her feet as Angelus slowly advances, she lifts up her sword but Angelus was faster and her sword bounces off of his and falls with the tip onto the low wall of a planting bed.

Angelus stomps on the blade before she can raise it again and knocks it from her grip, he spins around and elbows her in the face, knocking her back into a stone table, which collapses and falls with her.

Angelus plays with his sword, idly pointing it at Buffy as she looks up at him, frightened “Now that's everything, huh? No weapons... No friends... No hope” Buffy closes her eyes and steels herself for whatever's coming.

“Well, I should kill you now and get back to your sister” Angelus taunted as Buffy looks up at him sharply “and just so you know she tastes great” Buffy glares at him still on the ground “What are you planning to do with her”.

“Let's just say she's dying for my blood” Angelus laughs when Buffy deduces his answer “You're blood? But that will turn her into a...” Angelus grins widely “A vampire? Well, I guess in her case it's Slaypire, just think of the power she'll have”.

“She called out you're name when I drained her, but this time big sister can't help her” Buffy felt a tear drip onto her cheek and closed her eye as he raised the sword above her head with lightning-fast reflexes she swings up with both arms and catches the blade between the palms of her hands, she opens her eyes and meets his “You're wrong”.

* * *

 

Spike frowns as he chokes Drusilla, she begins to lose consciousness and slumps over in his arms “Sorry, baby. Wish there was another way” he apologized getting ready to pick her up when he saw the Slayer still lay in Angelus' bed looking very pale “Bugger”.

Gently placing Dru on the floor he ran over to the Slayer and undid the restraints Angel had specially made, he noticed her clothes undone and ripped “Wake up” he said nudging the young girl.

He watched as her eyes opened warily “Goodbye Birdie” he muttered giving her a nod and running back over to Dru he lifts her into his arms and starts to carry her out. On the way, he passes the doorway to the atrium and glances outside.

When he sees them he stops to take a better look Buffy is backing up against the wall without her sword while Angelus slowly and deliberately advances on her holding his “God, he's gonna kill her” He watches for another moment, then shrugs and heads for the garage with Drusilla.

Getting in his car he wondered if saving the Birdie was going to come back and bite him in the arse some day.

* * *

 

Xander still searching for Giles and Nikki pushes aside a curtain to another room and finds Giles still tied to a chair “Giles!” he called to the librarian and Giles' head is tilted back, and he is very weak “Giles!”.

Giles lifts his head slowly as Xander crouches behind the chair and begins to untie the ropes “Xander?” he mumbles as Xander looks at him carefully “Can you walk?” Giles lets out a small groan “You're not real”.

“Sure, I'm real” Xander tells Giles who shakes his head “It's a trick. They get inside my head, make me see things I want” Xander has untied the ropes and goes around to look into Giles' face “Then why would they make you see me?”.

Giles considers this and nods “You're right. Let's go” He groans as Xander gets under his arm and helps him out of the chair “Did you get Nikki?” Giles asks as Xander helps him walk “I haven't found her yet”.

Giles looks at Xander desperately “He's done something to her, something terrible, we need to find her” Xander nods seriously and they both continue to walk when a figure stumbles through the curtain making them both gasp.

“Nikki” Xander sighs happily until they see the state she's in, Giles is the first to notice her trying to cover up her torn clothes “Oh god” he whispers and painfully takes off his jacket and placing it around her body.

Xander looks at his friend, his jaw tightened when she clawed at the jacket pulling it tighter “I've got you” he said softly as she began to cry, Giles let go of Xander and patted him on the shoulder giving him a silent order.

Xander picked Nikki up in his arms and the 3 of them slowly made their way out of the mansion having no idea what was going to happen next or if the world was about to end but at that moment none of them cared.

Giles looked down at the girl he'd come to care for like a daughter and felt things he hadn't felt since his ripper days, Angel had obviously done some things to her, she was covered in blood and hadn't said a word but what worried him the most was the attack marks he couldn't see and hoped weren't there.

* * *

 

I lay in the hospital bed with Giles and my friends by my side, I looked up and watched as the blood from my transfusion bag dripped, Angelus had nearly drained me dry. Xander, Cordelia, and Oz pushing Willow in a wheelchair walked into my hospital room.

“Willow, are you sure you should be out of bed?” Giles said to my best friend who smiled “Look who's talking” Giles looks over at me before turning back to Willow “Yes” I knew he was worried about me that's why he hadn't left, I think he wanted to be here in case Angelus turned up too.

Willow takes my hand in her and gives me a small smile but my face doesn't change “Hey Nik” I squeeze Willow's hand careful not to hurt her “How are you feeling” I shrugged emotionless “I'll live”.

“Are we not going to talk about it?” Xander hisses as he begins to pace “talk about what Xander?” Cordelia questions holding onto Xander's arm as he looks at Giles and I “What did he do to you” Xander growled banging on the end of my bed making me jump.

Giles jumped up from his seat awkwardly “Enough Xander! She doesn't need to talk about it” Giles defended as I sat watching them all “He tried to break me” I admitted as they all turned to look at me.

Giles sat back down next to me and brushed my hair away from my face “Nikki... did he uh... did Angel touch you or do anything inappropriate to you” my friends all looked on in horror as my tough exterior suddenly broke.

I felt Giles pull me into him as sobs racked through my body “He tried to... he was going to” I started and Giles shushed me as I couldn't say the words “I couldn't get him off of me” I sobbed pushing Giles away gently as I looked at my wounds.

I was suddenly pulled into a hug by the last person I expected “we're here for you” Cordelia whispered holding me tighter as the others circled around us in one big hug “You're safe now” Willow said with tears running down her face.

Looking around the room I frowned realizing my sister was still not here “Where's Buffy” I hiccuped as Giles sat on the edge of my bed comfortingly “ You guys haven't seen her either?” Xander asks the other who shake their heads.

“But we know the world didn't end, 'cause... check it out” Oz motions to our still hell-less earth “Well, we, uh... we went back to the mansion. I-it was empty, um... and Acathla was, was... dormant” Giles mentioned as he takes off his glasses and squints.

“I think the spell worked. I felt something go through me” Willow admitted from her wheelchair, tears still present on her face “Plus the Orb did that cool glow thing” Cordelia acknowledged as she gently rubbed my back.

“Well, maybe it wasn't in time. Maybe she had to kill him before the cure could work” Xander deducted and we all nodded “Well, then, she'd wanna be alone, I guess” Oz said as Cordelia shrugged “Well, she's gotta show up sooner or later. We still have school”.

Biting my lip I felt upset but put on a small smile “Yeah. She'll be here in a while” I rubbed my hands together anxiously “she has to be here soon, she's my sister, where would she go?”.

Xander crossed his arms looking concerned “are you sure you're okay?” I gave him a smile knowing I felt the opposite on the inside but I knew I needed to be strong, I was the Slayer, I wouldn't let him affect me. I wouldn't let him make everyone treat me like I was breakable “He didn't break me.  _I'm not a paper doll_ ”.


	42. Questions and Answers

**Q.**  What's Angelus going to do to Nikki? Is something bad?

 **A.**  His plan (or Spike's originally) was to turn Nikki into a Slaypire.

 

 **Q.**  Why did Angelus like Nikki so much?

 **A.**  Angelus became obsessed with Nikki because of her dark side and how powerful she is.

 

 **Q.**  Xander, what do you see in Cordelia? I honestly just don't understand how you can go from hating her guts to dating her so very quickly.

 **A.**  Who knows, In all honesty I have no idea why this pairing was made, although I do like how sweet Cordelia could be with Xander (Go Fish).

 

 **Q.**  Who would play Nikki Summers?

 **A.**  When planning the book Nikki was always pictured as being Amber Heard.

 

 **Q.**  When will her next gift from the First Slayer activate?

 **A.**  Nikki's next power will come in the next book.

 

 **Q.**  Also are her powers going to based off the Halliwell's powers from the show Charmed?

 **A.**  At first no, I made Nikki have telekinesis because that's what Dawn was originally going to have in the show but the writers decided against it.

 

 **Q.**  How did you choose her name?

 **A.**  Amber Heard plays a character called Nikki in ExTerminators also I liked the fact that Spike had previous killed another Slayer called Nikki in the past which is something I will be writing on later in the series.

 

 **Q.**  Will you make more outfits for Nikki?

 **A.**  I'll try but the site I was making outfits on (polyvore) has shutdown so i'll have to find another way to make outfits.

 

 **Q.**  Is every season going to be a new book?

 **A.**  Yes, to keep it looking clean and not confusing. Plus I doubt everyone will want to read a book with hundreds of chapters.

 

 **Q.**  Wtf is with Angel putting the moves on Nikki like is it a game?

 **A.**  I think for him it has an edge of cat and mouse like all of his victims but he definitely has a dark obsession with Nikki.

 

 **Q.**  Will their be a love interest for Nikki and if so, will you create a OC for said role or will you be accepting reader's OC creations?

 **A.**  There is a love interest for Nikki in the next book, I have pretty much already created him but I'm willing to hear any ideas you have.

 

 **Q.**  There will be a season two?

 **A.**  Yep there will be!

 

 **Q.**  Does Anya come into play? And if she does, is she there to stay as in with Xander? I like Anya but her with Xander was as annoying as Cordelia with Xan they are funny sometimes but most of the time it just doesn't feel right.

 **A.**  Anya will be in the story and will pretty much be the same as in the tv show.

 

 **Q**. Is Nikki planning on going to college or is she going to help Giles run the magic shop?

 **A.**  Nikki will be going to college but she'll be helping Giles as much as she can.

 

 **Q.**  Dawn is most likely going to appear since she was a massive impact on the show, but since (at least in my opinion) she kinda fucked up the crisp goodness the show was are you going to make her a little less bratty and annoying or are you going to leave her as is?

 **A.**  Dawn is definitely going to be in this book but I will try and make her a lot less bratty.

 

 **Q.**  Are you planning on having Nikki go onto season 5 of Angel and will there be a friendship between her and faith

 **A.**  I have no idea about Nikki going into Angel but yes Nikki will be friends with Faith.


	43. Coming Soon!

**††††††**   

"Nicola! Don't you talk about your sister that way"

"Yeah, well at least I didn't tell her to leave and never come back"

 **††††††**  

"Why isn't Nikki taking care of the Slaying?" 

 "Well she's still like PTSD after what happened you with..."

"What?". 

"It's just she's been a little more.."

"sociopathic"

"What's wrong with her?"   

 **††††††**  

"Does anybody else think Faith is creepy?".

"No, but I'm the one getting single-white-femaled here"

"she's having a good effect on your sister".

"Mom, I'm just getting my life back. I'm not looking to go halfsies on it, Plus I want Nikki to want me to make her laugh again not Faith"

**††††††**

"Who did it?"

"Did what?"

"Who hurt you at Angel's mansion"

"No one"

**††††††**

"Just tell me who it was!"

"Angel! It was Angel!"

**††††††**

**Bad Blood | BTVS | Book 2**

**Coming Soon**

**May 10th.**


	44. It's Here

**The new book in my BTVS series is now up, it's called Bad Blood.**

**So if you want to read it go to my profile and find it there, hope you like the new installment!**


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